The Iron Girl Project - Computerized Exoskeleton System

Ciano930 · Jul 6, 2014

Very impressed by this whole project! I've been looking at doing something similar in my Extremis suit but am a bit stumped at the best way to start. I have a raspberry pi that I'm struggling to use (seems everytime I get it to do something small in the right direction I meet 5 new problems) but really my programming background is very limited!! any advice you'd have would be much appreciated!

Now onto advice! I'm worried that the amount of battery you'll be using running and rendering a 3D enviroment for the hud might be more hinderence then benefit, so I was wondering if it'd be more logical to use detailed semi transparent flat images instead of 3D models?

Loving the work so far and hoping to see more in the future and if possible join you in making one myself!

Lexikitty · Jul 6, 2014

Ciano930 said:
Very impressed by this whole project! I've been looking at doing something similar in my Extremis suit but am a bit stumped at the best way to start. I have a raspberry pi that I'm struggling to use (seems everytime I get it to do something small in the right direction I meet 5 new problems) but really my programming background is very limited!! any advice you'd have would be much appreciated!

Now onto advice! I'm worried that the amount of battery you'll be using running and rendering a 3D enviroment for the hud might be more hinderence then benefit, so I was wondering if it'd be more logical to use detailed semi transparent flat images instead of 3D models?

Loving the work so far and hoping to see more in the future and if possible join you in making one myself!

Thanks for the comment! Raspberry Pi's are kind of tricky buggers, especially if you don't feel like doing hours of OpenGL code. What I eventually did was move over to the Processing language on a PC with the intention of porting it over to the RPi if possible later on. Pygame did a decent enough job, but it wasn't perfect by any means. Also, library support for most graphical Python tasks is pretty much at "good luck, compile it yourself". However, it can be done, and one of the test videos up there (post #18) was written entirely in Python. Processing will run on an RPi, with a bunch of Java tweaking, but I might end up just strapping an old laptop board to my back for the Mk 0.5.

With the exception of the abandoned Mk VII test in my most recent post, everything you see here is indeed flattened images with alpha channels or other faux-3D faking. The helmet outline and horizon were hand-drawn and then vector-traced. The only 3D elements are the text "panes", and that doesn't use very much CPU at all, since the P3D display mode uses OpenGL, and that's required for the camera feed anyway. Honestly, the biggest power draw will be the camera feed, unless I manage to get a RPi to overlay it.

If you need any help with your HUD, or just want to trade notes, feel free to PM me!

~LK

Ciano930 · Jul 6, 2014

Ahhhhh that makes much more sense, I figure you had the 3d rendered enviroment alreedy implemented, yeah honestly 3d faking makes more sense really as the HUD isnt actually a 3D hologram hovering past his face like it is in the films =P

Well I have the guts of my hud's design down (doing the extremis armour means most of the aesthetics are already there) now the big effort will just be implementing it in a manner thats efficient. I'll have to look at processing again as I only skimmed it for an exam earlier this year.

That could be quite troublesome having a motherboard strapped to your back, even just for fitting it into the suit comfortably and making sure it doesnt get damaged but as a prototype its feasible!

I dont mind coding really its just getting to the pint where i can actually sit down and start to test things is taking longer then I thought... especially as I have no home broadband out here and am running on 3G Mifi (the problem with living in the Irish Countryside...) but soon as I get it sorted out and start proper work I'll let you know!

Little idea I also had was a face tracking system based on eyes that could be implemented on a high resolution camera and using cell based encapsulation you could have a targeting system like this image (second panel)

at least I'd like to try getting one working, even have it that I could drop blue tooth or infared tags on my friends so that I always know where people are in a crowd because really its so easy to lose people when your wearing these suits!!

ZuberiGF · Jul 6, 2014

This is awesome!

Really looking forward to see how this turns out when it's completed. I'm sure there are even a few real-world uses it could be put to. Motorcycle helmets come to mind (and then HALO cosplay/motorcycle helmets, but that's probably just me).

Definitely going to be following this!

Lexikitty · Jul 6, 2014

Ciano930 said:
Ahhhhh that makes much more sense, I figure you had the 3d rendered enviroment alreedy implemented, yeah honestly 3d faking makes more sense really as the HUD isnt actually a 3D hologram hovering past his face like it is in the films =P

Well I have the guts of my hud's design down (doing the extremis armour means most of the aesthetics are already there) now the big effort will just be implementing it in a manner thats efficient. I'll have to look at processing again as I only skimmed it for an exam earlier this year.

That could be quite troublesome having a motherboard strapped to your back, even just for fitting it into the suit comfortably and making sure it doesnt get damaged but as a prototype its feasible!

I dont mind coding really its just getting to the pint where i can actually sit down and start to test things is taking longer then I thought... especially as I have no home broadband out here and am running on 3G Mifi (the problem with living in the Irish Countryside...) but soon as I get it sorted out and start proper work I'll let you know!

Little idea I also had was a face tracking system based on eyes that could be implemented on a high resolution camera and using cell based encapsulation you could have a targeting system like this image (second panel)
View attachment 346216 at least I'd like to try getting one working, even have it that I could drop blue tooth or infared tags on my friends so that I always know where people are in a crowd because really its so easy to lose people when your wearing these suits!!

I'm doing my own suit design based loosely on Nightclub, so I'm hoping to be able to hide a decent amount of computer hardware under the jetpack/booster on the back. I'd like the final version to run on an RPi just for the sake of battery life - I can get ~19 hours off a 10,000mA battery bank with constant CPU usage.

I like the face-tracking idea - I actually tested it out with the OpenCV libraries for Processing, but the framerate dropped to around 15fps and the CPU on my desktop (Core i7, at nearly 4GHz) was up to around 70%. Couldn't get it any better, even with dropping the resolution. So the only (untested) theory I came up with for face-tracking was to use a dedicated RPi and it's standalone version of OpenCV to grab the faces, then send those coordinates down the line to whatever's running the Processing sketch so it can draw the little boxes around their heads.

I like the idea of infrared tags, or even just highly reflective material that would show up under IR lighting, then hide a bunch of IR LED's on the front of your suit. Unless you plan on actually installing a thermal cam or whatnot. Which would be super awesome.

~LK

Oh, look, I found the OpenCV test program I cobbled together. You can see what it does to the CPU:

ataru72ita · Jul 7, 2014

You have some serious skills!!! Way to go, it'll be very interesting following this thread!!:thumbsup

Regards,

Alberto

WarPig · Jul 7, 2014

Marry me? :love You are a techie's dream come true. Were I not happily married (and an old fart to boot)...

Seriously - your work is impressive! A few years ago I was trying to cobble a HUD together for an Iron Man build incorporating a Vuzix, cannibalized webcam, usb GPS and temperature sensors, tying them together using a netbook. I finally abandoned it.; stone knives and bearskins compared to this!

I'm learning about stuff I never knew existed - which is fun in itself!

So, what's next after this one? SkyNet?

Lexikitty · Jul 8, 2014

WarPig said:
Marry me? :love You are a techie's dream come true. Were I not happily married (and an old fart to boot)...

Seriously - your work is impressive! A few years ago I was trying to cobble a HUD together for an Iron Man build incorporating a Vuzix, cannibalized webcam, usb GPS and temperature sensors, tying them together using a netbook. I finally abandoned it.; stone knives and bearskins compared to this!

I'm learning about stuff I never knew existed - which is fun in itself!

So, what's next after this one? SkyNet?

Hahaha, I'm fairly sure my girlfriend would have something to say about that. Her nickname's Agent Romanoff for a reason...

And thanks! Vuzix's hardware looks nice...especially their AR goggles. Wish they weren't quite so expensive though...*sigh* What was your GPS setup? I'll probably end up just dumping that into the serial stream along with all the other diagnostic data, but the less times I have to parse all that, the less latency there will be, so I'm always looking for better solutions.

Skynet already exists, it's just spelled with G's and O's and an LE in there somewhere. I wouldn't mind working on the control systems for the Helicarrier, though.

Or RoboCop's OS...

~LK

WarPig · Jul 8, 2014

Lexikitty said:
Hahaha, I'm fairly sure my girlfriend would have something to say about that. Her nickname's Agent Romanoff for a reason...

And thanks! Vuzix's hardware looks nice...especially their AR goggles. Wish they weren't quite so expensive though...*sigh* What was your GPS setup? I'll probably end up just dumping that into the serial stream along with all the other diagnostic data, but the less times I have to parse all that, the less latency there will be, so I'm always looking for better solutions.

Skynet already exists, it's just spelled with G's and O's and an LE in there somewhere. I wouldn't mind working on the control systems for the Helicarrier, though. Or RoboCop's OS...

~LK

Well, don't put a hit out on me; I was just making an innocent observation . :angel

The Vuzix I used wasn't that expensive - I think less than $100 on eBay - but we're talking the 2008 - 2009 models. The main drawback is that you can't wear glasses *and* the Vuzix. They have an optical adjustment, but it wasn't enough to make them clear for my myopic eyes.

If I can dig out the info on what I did, I'll post or PM it to you; it should be good for a laugh.

I don't agree that G double O squiggly stuff is SkyNet. The "Internet of Things" that they are hyping - *that's* what to fear!

Speaking of RoboCop and biometric interfaces: I had a harebrained idea that I could adapt a OCZ Nia as a "brain-controlled mouse". Nifty idea, but the Nia just didn't work properly right out of the box. Ah well, it was a nice time-waster.

Dan6285 · Jul 9, 2014

Scary...if you can make a Damage.Inducing.Exo.Skeleton.Electronic.Lady(suit) in your spare time, then what are the big 'boys' building?
Stark himself would hire you, if he existed...

Lexikitty · Jul 9, 2014

WarPig said:
Well, don't put a hit out on me; I was just making an innocent observation . :angel

The Vuzix I used wasn't that expensive - I think less than $100 on eBay - but we're talking the 2008 - 2009 models. The main drawback is that you can't wear glasses *and* the Vuzix. They have an optical adjustment, but it wasn't enough to make them clear for my myopic eyes.

If I can dig out the info on what I did, I'll post or PM it to you; it should be good for a laugh.

I don't agree that G double O squiggly stuff is SkyNet. The "Internet of Things" that they are hyping - *that's* what to fear!

Speaking of RoboCop and biometric interfaces: I had a harebrained idea that I could adapt a OCZ Nia as a "brain-controlled mouse". Nifty idea, but the Nia just didn't work properly right out of the box. Ah well, it was a nice time-waster.

Sounds good. I'd love to see the specs and rug. The Olympus HMD does allow you to use glasses, fortunately.

And when G-Man...no, not that one...yes, that one, goes back into the past and Ctrl-Z's their purchase of Boston Dynamics, I'll believe they aren't SkyNet. Until then, BigDog will come running when your Nest knows your home, and it might not be to save you. (I kid, I'm actually a big fan of BD, they do some amazing work).

I don't know much about the Nia - my only venture into those "biosensor" things was the Nekomimi cat ears that were supposed to change with your emotions. I only ever tried them on once and they didn't do anything at all, which kind of put me off to the whole thing. If the Nia can emulate keypresses, you can use Windows' built-in accessibility/Numlock mouse to achieve a fairly basic system, or use a Joy>Mouse emulator if it gives out joystick commands instead...but this is getting way off-topic, lol. Feel free to PM me, I'm actually quite curious about the Nia and definitely won't pass up chances to geek out over using objects in ways they were never intended.

~LK

BGefrich · Jul 10, 2014

As a developer and Iron Man nut, I am thrilled by this thread.

I've been considering what I can do along a similar vein (mostly providing vision and suit control - the HUD was a detail I hadn't considered and is really brilliant). I've been in the Android development space for a bit, with all of its limitations, so I was trying to find a way to work this through my DROID DNA (with a 4-core Snapdragon processor and HDMI output).

Really excited to see your progress moving forward.

darkhawk · Jul 11, 2014

Sadly, I still have my OCZ NIA....it was a 'novel' idea, at best, but it suffered from some SERIOUS grounding issues. Just touching the metal case on the main box housing could cause the NIA to go from 'not working at all' to suddenly 'working'....unfortunately even then it wasn't very good.

I'm enjoying seeing the progress! I can't wait to see more, and for you to share it more!

I do wish that I had the skills you have for making the UI. Sadly, my suit with the RPi will soon be complete (for now). I'll most likely be waiting until I find a better solution for everything. I really wanted to consider adding 4 cameras (front, left, right, rear) and wrapping them all into a single image and displaying it.

The UI is great, but at this point I have 2 major problems....
1. Finding a display that fits inside the helmet that will display the information in a readable manner
2. Finding a good enough computing device that can actually do ALL of that without needing a power outlet.

Most 'affordable' displays right now are still somewhere between 320x240 and 640x480 displays. 640x480 is a bit more palatable as far as reading the text, especially what you have shown, but not much more. And that's really my big issue with everything.

The idea is awesome, I honestly really love it. But until a better way to actually 'see' it is available, I'm not sure how useful it is.

NOW....something that I thought of recently is.....what about the Google I/O 'googles' that they made out of cardboard? Take a small phone screen, and make the single screen into a stereo screen by dividing it by 2? You could then have a 1920x1080 screen divided by 2 (1 for each eye) that is now 960x1080. Granted it would almost be a square screen, but still, it would provide the proper viewing vantage for it. I guess the real issue is finding a way to output that from some computing device with enough 'power' to do it.

Anyway....just some more ramblings from me. I do really like the interface, and wish I had a clue how to do it. Hopefully you'll eventually clue everyone in a bit more on how it's done.

Lexikitty · Jul 12, 2014

darkhawk said:
Sadly, I still have my OCZ NIA....it was a 'novel' idea, at best, but it suffered from some SERIOUS grounding issues. Just touching the metal case on the main box housing could cause the NIA to go from 'not working at all' to suddenly 'working'....unfortunately even then it wasn't very good.

I'm enjoying seeing the progress! I can't wait to see more, and for you to share it more!

I do wish that I had the skills you have for making the UI. Sadly, my suit with the RPi will soon be complete (for now). I'll most likely be waiting until I find a better solution for everything. I really wanted to consider adding 4 cameras (front, left, right, rear) and wrapping them all into a single image and displaying it.

The UI is great, but at this point I have 2 major problems....
1. Finding a display that fits inside the helmet that will display the information in a readable manner
2. Finding a good enough computing device that can actually do ALL of that without needing a power outlet.

Most 'affordable' displays right now are still somewhere between 320x240 and 640x480 displays. 640x480 is a bit more palatable as far as reading the text, especially what you have shown, but not much more. And that's really my big issue with everything.

The idea is awesome, I honestly really love it. But until a better way to actually 'see' it is available, I'm not sure how useful it is.

NOW....something that I thought of recently is.....what about the Google I/O 'googles' that they made out of cardboard? Take a small phone screen, and make the single screen into a stereo screen by dividing it by 2? You could then have a 1920x1080 screen divided by 2 (1 for each eye) that is now 960x1080. Granted it would almost be a square screen, but still, it would provide the proper viewing vantage for it. I guess the real issue is finding a way to output that from some computing device with enough 'power' to do it.

Anyway....just some more ramblings from me. I do really like the interface, and wish I had a clue how to do it. Hopefully you'll eventually clue everyone in a bit more on how it's done.

Duly noted on the Nia. If it was that unstable on a good day, I doubt it would be able to properly ground sandwiched in with tons of other wires and cables.

The hope to power all this will be a RPi. Processing runs on the RPi decently, my only concern will be OpenGL/P3D playing nicely. If it doesn't work, I'll run it off an Acer W500 I have, which shouldn't have any problem with that at all. That thing has roughly 4-5 hours of battery, and I could extend it by building an extra pack. And even if that didn't have enough power, the Asus Transformer, or even the Dell Venue 8/Acer W4 would work fine (8" screens, small, light). There's options.

The glasses IU'm using would fit inside the helmet, but they are 720x480, and I've realized text is going to be an issue. The cheap option is to convert everything to bar graphs and symbols. The expensive option is going with a Zeiss Cinemizer or suchlike, which would fit inside the helmet and do a decent stab at 720p. There are video headsets out there that support insane resolutions - so for now I'm just going to finish the UI and start printing the brackets for the helmet's underskeleton. I could also probably pick through the code and make it slightly more modular, so one could change their resolution at the top and the program could scale everything down. That'll take a lot of work for the info panels though, as they're all done in separate coordinate spaces.

I just still have to decide where to draw the line between "tinkering with a hobby" and "building an exoskeleton". I have a few other ideas (homemade Kevlar, pneumatic power assistance, and inlaid meshes for measuring panel damage, for instance) that I wouldn't mind implementing if I decide to go down the more fun/difficult/expensive path. I'll sit here and iron out the basics while I decide.

Off to some more late-night work.

~LK

Zephyranthes · Jul 14, 2014

Iron out the basics, but i'm pretty sure people could crowdfund your exoskeleton if your worried about the expense, because that stuff could be super cool XD I'll donate if you want

Kou Uraki.... LAUNCHING!

Lexikitty · Aug 3, 2014

Just a few updates (life has made things a bit crowded over July, but I'm catching up):

- An alpha version of the HUD Processing code is now available on GitHub here. The Readme inside the HUD directory should cover everything you'll need to get it up and running. If you have any questions, or interest in helping the code along, let me know!

- Horizontal power gauges now work! See the video below.

- R&D on the interior skeleton has started! I know, it looks awful. It's my first foam anything.

The plan is to build a rough foam suit for scaling, measure out the interior skeleton pieces and 3D print them, then attach the foam or pep panels on top with velcro/magnets/something I can pull off to get down into the wiring when needed. When the interior skeleton is nailed down, I'll make sturdier exoskeleton panels with pep/fiberglass or something along those lines. I apparently suck horribly at anything involving glue, so don't expect this to be pretty. It will, however, be techy and gutsy and full of wires. Which is pretty in it's own special way. I'm using the RESCUE suit for now, at least until Mk 16/Nightclub foam or pep files show up. Commissioning this might also be the route I end up taking, since I don't have much room at all, and I found I have less patience for making things look good than I do making them move/whirr/beep.

Zephyranthes said:
Iron out the basics, but i'm pretty sure people could crowdfund your exoskeleton if your worried about the expense, because that stuff could be super cool XD I'll donate if you want

I actually have been giving this some serious thought. I feel like a horrible person accepting donations from anyone, but I'm not rich, and some of the hardware to make this suit technically shine (servos & controllers, battery packs, HMD's) ain't cheap. If anybody else would actually be interested in this, or thinks it a good idea, let me know, and I'll put a donate button on my blog. Just know that it's a highly experimental project, and I can't promise more than design/3D files, documentation, and open-source code in return.

Cheers,
~LK

Zephyranthes · Aug 3, 2014

This stuff is pioneering ingenuity if ya ask me! It looks cool, and if you need a hand with any 3d work i can help; i'm still waiting on foam to get my gundam suit started so i have time

Lexikitty · Aug 4, 2014

Zephyranthes said:
This stuff is pioneering ingenuity if ya ask me! It looks cool, and if you need a hand with any 3d work i can help; i'm still waiting on foam to get my gundam suit started so i have time

Might actually take you up on that, honestly, if you have the time. I'll PM you in a day or two when I've tidied up all my 3D files.

~LK

FerrousBueller · Aug 4, 2014

The HUD is looking great! I did a git pull awhile ago (last week, I think?) and am working through your code. Thanks for making it easy to follow.

I'm pretty new to processing, but it seems straightforward enough. I haven't been able to work much on integrating it because I've been focusing on pepping and fiberglassing some of the suit components. (see my profile album for that - finally started putting pics in)

Definitely looking forward to seeing more!

Lexikitty · Aug 4, 2014

FerrousBueller said:
The HUD is looking great! I did a git pull awhile ago (last week, I think?) and am working through your code. Thanks for making it easy to follow. I'm pretty new to processing, but it seems straightforward enough. I haven't been able to work much on integrating it because I've been focusing on pepping and fiberglassing some of the suit components. (see my profile album for that - finally started putting pics in)

Definitely looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks! Glad somebody's using the code, or at least poking through it. I'd actually recommend you do another pull today - I made a few modifications recently and just pushed a new version up today, that will allow anybody to at least run the code without a camera, Arduino, or any sensors. As long as you have a copy of Processing 2.2.1, you're good to go. Changelog here.

And lovely job on the suit so far!

I just got finished gluing my faceplate...it'll take me a while more to get just the helmet done. I have found a decent gel superglue that I'm using though, which is leading to less cursing and a slightly faster rate of progress.

~LK

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