FIrst Post!
I sarted building HAL last November. Like many I wanted to use accurate lenses, have it talk like HAL, and mount it on the wall like every HAL should be. I am just about to shoot the last clear coat now that the decals are on, then final assembly. It runs on two Litium Ion 18650 cells and is rechargeable. Will run for a looong time. And nothing is better than working on this replica for 9 months on and off, then putting the lens decals on upside down. Lol, I am going to leave them as is. At least you can read them from the front.
All of the chassis and the "Manual Interface Panel" (the button interface at the bottom) was designed using Fusion 360. The lens housing, the trim ring, and all of the chassis guts were designed and printed either with a resin printer or FDM printer. I had many, many iterations. There are two custom boards in this to facilitate wiring the buttons and a recharge port in the access panel (button box), which uses a magnetic connector. The idea is that you could attach the Manual Interface Panel to the HAL if needed. The buttons play HAL's most iconic statements in my version. The front HAL body is magnetically attached to the chassis. You just pull it from the chassis (which will be mounted on the wall) and pull out the LED. Everything else stays with the chassis.
The lenses were made at great effort, first starting with a lens element diagram from the late 1960's that showed a 2d diagram of the lense elements and spacing. There are 4 lens elements in the NIKKOR lens used to make HAL as far as my research could confirm. I modeled the lense elements, scaled to the appropriate size, then printed masters using a resin printer. After much hand work and polishing using custom made 3D Printed fixtures I cast them with a 2-part silicone mold. After 3 versions of the molds, and 4 different types of resin I finally got to the point where I could use them after many stages of polishing with diamond compounds and a polishing wheel. I learned a LOT about casting items using silicone molds. Honestly, it was a lot of work, and cost a lot of money, but it looks like HAL. And I have the equipment to do other casting projects (Vac Chamber, Pressure Pot, etc.)
First the Design / Renders from Fusion 360
The prototype Chassis on the left and the Final Version on the Right.
I sarted building HAL last November. Like many I wanted to use accurate lenses, have it talk like HAL, and mount it on the wall like every HAL should be. I am just about to shoot the last clear coat now that the decals are on, then final assembly. It runs on two Litium Ion 18650 cells and is rechargeable. Will run for a looong time. And nothing is better than working on this replica for 9 months on and off, then putting the lens decals on upside down. Lol, I am going to leave them as is. At least you can read them from the front.
All of the chassis and the "Manual Interface Panel" (the button interface at the bottom) was designed using Fusion 360. The lens housing, the trim ring, and all of the chassis guts were designed and printed either with a resin printer or FDM printer. I had many, many iterations. There are two custom boards in this to facilitate wiring the buttons and a recharge port in the access panel (button box), which uses a magnetic connector. The idea is that you could attach the Manual Interface Panel to the HAL if needed. The buttons play HAL's most iconic statements in my version. The front HAL body is magnetically attached to the chassis. You just pull it from the chassis (which will be mounted on the wall) and pull out the LED. Everything else stays with the chassis.
The lenses were made at great effort, first starting with a lens element diagram from the late 1960's that showed a 2d diagram of the lense elements and spacing. There are 4 lens elements in the NIKKOR lens used to make HAL as far as my research could confirm. I modeled the lense elements, scaled to the appropriate size, then printed masters using a resin printer. After much hand work and polishing using custom made 3D Printed fixtures I cast them with a 2-part silicone mold. After 3 versions of the molds, and 4 different types of resin I finally got to the point where I could use them after many stages of polishing with diamond compounds and a polishing wheel. I learned a LOT about casting items using silicone molds. Honestly, it was a lot of work, and cost a lot of money, but it looks like HAL. And I have the equipment to do other casting projects (Vac Chamber, Pressure Pot, etc.)
First the Design / Renders from Fusion 360
The prototype Chassis on the left and the Final Version on the Right.
