TheRealStark
Well-Known Member
Well, this thread is long overdue. I have been working on parts of this costume for over 2 years, and I think it's about time it came into reality.
I set out to build this suit after seeing the first Iron Man movie, and used my knowledge of Lego-building to build a Iron Man Mark III Boot with Lever Prototype. It worked really well, but was simply a prototype.
I then built my first Arc Reactor. A friend recommended I check out the Arduino platform, as it was making a huge splash in the programming community. They had also just released the sewable version, the Lilypad. This seemed perfect for my application, and it was round!
Arduino Lilypad Arc Reactor
I didn't really like the start-up sequence, but I was happy just to have a compact light unit sewn into my shirt.
However, with having to travel back and forth to school every few months, I put my Mark III suit on hold, and opted instead to build the Transforming Iron Man Mark V Briefcase Armour. Throughout that build I taught myself how to program, wire electronics a lot of mechanical design. The end result was decent. Not comparable to any other suit aesthetically, but it did function almost as I intended, and it scored me a featured spot on the Discovery Channel's Daily Planet, where Jay Ingram actually wore the suit.
Now that I have finished school, and bored you with my life's story, I am now making a lot of headway towards completing one of the most functional Iron Man suits in existence. I am striving to give it as many of the features seen in the movie, and have prototyped a lot of designs to get the desired features.
Below are video links of my progress:
Iron Man Mark III Lego Mechanisms - First Draft
My initial designs, though they achieved the motions I wanted, were far too bulky. Plus, using pneumatics for linear motion was effective, but required even more space for the air tank and trigger mechanism. A good start though!
Iron Man Mark III Lego Mechanisms - Second Draft Now sporting an awesome tan, I had managed to compact most of my earlier designs, as well as demonstrated simple servo usage to control them. Some of these designs (i.e. the shoulder missiles and chest rotation) will be making an appearance in my suit (only now they've been upgraded!)
Armour Mechanics Update The hip pod pieces are now super compact, and you'll see that basic mechanism in the final design later on in this thread.
Being back in school, I began focusing my time on the electronics side of things. I began by developing the electronics for the combined effort with Surreal Studios, Unibeam 1.0. This was my first experience working with SMD LEDs, and damn, I would never go back! The sound effects were a big hit too, and so I began experimenting with ways to add in the other effects I wanted in my Mark III.
Unibeam with Abdomen Lighting Patterns WITH SOUND! I wanted my suit to fade from the abdomen up to the chest when I say, "Divert all power to chest RT." This effect will be made possible using lightpipe lining each section of the abdomen.
Seeing that I wouldn't have a suit ready for FanExpo 2012, I decided to try my hand at building the Iron Man Mech Tech Gauntlet from when Tony is watching TV getting angry and cranking the power up. This design worked supremely well, and I even suffered third-degree burns on my arm as a byproduct. (Note: do not press electrical connections against skin for 8 hours - burns may (WILL) occur.) Regardless, I managed to fit a lot of functions into a very small space, and this is when I knew I'd be able to do the same in a full suit.
Also at this time, I tried my hand at designing my very first custom PCB. They turned out pretty well:
Compact Repulsor Circuit
Iron Man / War Machine Electronics 2.0
Next, I realized I was going to need Jarvis to fabricate it for me. Sadly, I don't have a room full of mechanized arms designed for the sole purpose of assembling a suit, but I could order a brand new Makerbot Replicator 2 3D printer instead! This will allow me to build the custom parts I need for my suit, and so I took two days to teach myself how to design items in a 3D Cad software, and I am now ready to unveil some of my progress.
Sp, everything I am designing from here forwards will have a 3D printed component, and an electronic component. Posts to follow!
I set out to build this suit after seeing the first Iron Man movie, and used my knowledge of Lego-building to build a Iron Man Mark III Boot with Lever Prototype. It worked really well, but was simply a prototype.
I then built my first Arc Reactor. A friend recommended I check out the Arduino platform, as it was making a huge splash in the programming community. They had also just released the sewable version, the Lilypad. This seemed perfect for my application, and it was round!
Arduino Lilypad Arc Reactor
I didn't really like the start-up sequence, but I was happy just to have a compact light unit sewn into my shirt.
However, with having to travel back and forth to school every few months, I put my Mark III suit on hold, and opted instead to build the Transforming Iron Man Mark V Briefcase Armour. Throughout that build I taught myself how to program, wire electronics a lot of mechanical design. The end result was decent. Not comparable to any other suit aesthetically, but it did function almost as I intended, and it scored me a featured spot on the Discovery Channel's Daily Planet, where Jay Ingram actually wore the suit.
Now that I have finished school, and bored you with my life's story, I am now making a lot of headway towards completing one of the most functional Iron Man suits in existence. I am striving to give it as many of the features seen in the movie, and have prototyped a lot of designs to get the desired features.
Below are video links of my progress:
Iron Man Mark III Lego Mechanisms - First Draft
My initial designs, though they achieved the motions I wanted, were far too bulky. Plus, using pneumatics for linear motion was effective, but required even more space for the air tank and trigger mechanism. A good start though!
Iron Man Mark III Lego Mechanisms - Second Draft Now sporting an awesome tan, I had managed to compact most of my earlier designs, as well as demonstrated simple servo usage to control them. Some of these designs (i.e. the shoulder missiles and chest rotation) will be making an appearance in my suit (only now they've been upgraded!)
Armour Mechanics Update The hip pod pieces are now super compact, and you'll see that basic mechanism in the final design later on in this thread.
Being back in school, I began focusing my time on the electronics side of things. I began by developing the electronics for the combined effort with Surreal Studios, Unibeam 1.0. This was my first experience working with SMD LEDs, and damn, I would never go back! The sound effects were a big hit too, and so I began experimenting with ways to add in the other effects I wanted in my Mark III.
Unibeam with Abdomen Lighting Patterns WITH SOUND! I wanted my suit to fade from the abdomen up to the chest when I say, "Divert all power to chest RT." This effect will be made possible using lightpipe lining each section of the abdomen.
Seeing that I wouldn't have a suit ready for FanExpo 2012, I decided to try my hand at building the Iron Man Mech Tech Gauntlet from when Tony is watching TV getting angry and cranking the power up. This design worked supremely well, and I even suffered third-degree burns on my arm as a byproduct. (Note: do not press electrical connections against skin for 8 hours - burns may (WILL) occur.) Regardless, I managed to fit a lot of functions into a very small space, and this is when I knew I'd be able to do the same in a full suit.
Also at this time, I tried my hand at designing my very first custom PCB. They turned out pretty well:
Compact Repulsor Circuit
Iron Man / War Machine Electronics 2.0
Next, I realized I was going to need Jarvis to fabricate it for me. Sadly, I don't have a room full of mechanized arms designed for the sole purpose of assembling a suit, but I could order a brand new Makerbot Replicator 2 3D printer instead! This will allow me to build the custom parts I need for my suit, and so I took two days to teach myself how to design items in a 3D Cad software, and I am now ready to unveil some of my progress.
Sp, everything I am designing from here forwards will have a 3D printed component, and an electronic component. Posts to follow!
