Iron Man servo actuated face plate question

[Honus]

It'll be a very long time before I build any armor- way too many other projects going on! :lol

The next Iron Man project I'm going to try and tackle will be a hand repulsor that increases in brightness as you bend your hand and then makes the firing sound when you jerk your arm back.

 

[Starktech]

not to change the subject from servos and code, since we are on topic of sharing hard worked out plans and such. i am making my helmet out of 18 gauge stainless steel (i REALLY love the Mark 2) i am slowly making patterns and such off of the pieces. if any one wants the templates when I'm done let me know.

Note* i settle for nothing less than movie quality. so if i hit a piece i cant recreate the whole thing is going in the scrap bin. but i will have to exhaust all recourses before that happens.

 

[Honus]

18ga stainless- that's quite an undertaking! That's going to be pretty heavy too. Are you going to TIG weld everything together? Sometimes the welds can crack if you have to do any post weld shaping or forming.

 

[Fetts.Sobriquet]

not to change the subject from servos and code, since we are on topic of sharing hard worked out plans and such. i am making my helmet out of 18 gauge stainless steel (i REALLY love the Mark 2) i am slowly making patterns and such off of the pieces. if any one wants the templates when I'm done let me know.

Note* i settle for nothing less than movie quality. so if i hit a piece i cant recreate the whole thing is going in the scrap bin. but i will have to exhaust all recourses before that happens.

That's interesting. Maybe you should start a thread specific to your project. That was we can discuss it there.

 

[Starktech]

18ga stainless- that's quite an undertaking! That's going to be pretty heavy too. Are you going to TIG weld everything together? Sometimes the welds can crack if you have to do any post weld shaping or forming.

Correct i will be TIG welded. and they usually crack if you didn't get enough Penetration (Giggity) and then grind past the root of the weld. the only grinding i will be doing is to make the weld disappear. the only seems you should see are the ones that should be seen. like the temple areas and such. if i cant make each piece, panel, and plate dead nuts accurate pre weld then it isn't worth it to me. i have parts made, and some I'm afraid to start lol.

and ill make a dedicated thread if you guys are interested, once i have the pieces made at least, at that point i know i wont be throwing it away i just dint want to talk it all up and fail miserably.

 

[Honus]

Sounds like you've got a good handle on it. I've ton a ton of metalsmithing so I'll be really interested in seeing how it comes out.

So here's what my final controller board looks like- you can clearly see the LiPo charging circuit and all the inputs/outputs. The finished board measures just under 2.25" x 1.75".

Here's what it looks like with the wireless radio installed in its socket- it can also be connected with a cable.

Now I'm working on the transistor adapter board- this will allow you to connect higher current devices like DC motors or high power LEDs. It connects to digital output pins 10-13. It measures .75" x 1.125".

 

[td2253]

Wow that's a tiny board for something that does many functions! What's the frequency on that receiver?

Update: Oh, I found it, it's 2.4 GHz.

 

[Pilot]

Slightly on-topic, I guess - Honus, would you happen to know anything about the Cypress PSoC line of microprocessors? Through an odd series of events, I ended up with a large-ish box full of PSoC 3 chips, various dev boards, programmers, debuggers and some other stuff I haven't even positively identified yet, all for free.

Taking into consideration the fact that I know basically jack squat about programmable microprocessors, I'm wondering if it'd be worth my while to learn about the stuff I have, or if I'd be better off dumping it all on eBay and cutting my teeth on an Arduino instead. I don't have any illusions of re-inventing that beautiful wheel you've already created, especially since I currently lack the ability to make anything besides rudimentary analog circuits, but I think it'd be fun to try out some servo control stuff of my own as a learning exercise...eventually.

 

[Honus]

Wow that's a tiny board for something that does many functions! What's the frequency on that receiver?

Update: Oh, I found it, it's 2.4 GHz.

The XBee radios are pretty awesome. I think the range on this particular model is 300ft but they do have versions that can transmit up to 40 miles line of sight. The more powerful radios have much greater power consumption. I wanted to design the board to have wireless capability so two boards could talk to each other or you could have the ability to upload code wireless.

I could make the board even smaller, especially if I moved all the connectors and charger off the board but I figured this is a pretty good compromise. I wanted to make it really easy to work with. With this board you can do anything from touch screen input using a $6 Nintendo touchscreen to wireless mesh networks. It can accept a huge range of sensors and you can connect servos , LEDs, motors or whatever.

 

[Honus]

Slightly on-topic, I guess - Honus, would you happen to know anything about the Cypress PSoC line of microprocessors? Through an odd series of events, I ended up with a large-ish box full of PSoC 3 chips, various dev boards, programmers, debuggers and some other stuff I haven't even positively identified yet, all for free.

Taking into consideration the fact that I know basically jack squat about programmable microprocessors, I'm wondering if it'd be worth my while to learn about the stuff I have, or if I'd be better off dumping it all on eBay and cutting my teeth on an Arduino instead. I don't have any illusions of re-inventing that beautiful wheel you've already created, especially since I currently lack the ability to make anything besides rudimentary analog circuits, but I think it'd be fun to try out some servo control stuff of my own as a learning exercise...eventually.

I've never used them or even heard about them before. A quick search turned up this:
Cypress Semiconductor

It certainly does look interesting and it could be fun to play around with. I might look into it a bit more when I have some time. I know Sparkfun sells a small board with a Cypress PSoC micro.

The beauty of the Arduino platform is its user friendliness, especially for non electronics types/programmers. It was really designed with artists and designers in mind and was somewhat intended as a method of easy entry into physical computing. There is also a huge Arduino knowledge base, which makes getting help for your project a lot easier. There are probably around fifty different Arduino boards/clones currently being produced so it's pretty easy to find a board that suits your project. They're also very inexpensive.

The only other microcontroller I've used is the MAKE controller, which is quite a bit larger and more expensive than Arduino. Have a look here:
Welcome — MakingThings

It's very powerful to the point of being totally overkill for what I use microcontrollers for. Even though the programming language is similar to Arduino it's not nearly as easy to use and the documentation can be a bit daunting at times. I do plan on using my MAKE controller for a robotics controller for my three boys to play around with. I have the larger application board version that has full motor drivers on it so it's pretty well suited for that application. The MAKE controller would be great for building a fully functional R2 unit.

 

[Pilot]

Thanks for all the info! I have glanced over the Cypress web site before, it just all seemed a little daunting for a beginner. I really think the Arduino is probably more up my alley, or perhaps something from the Phidgets line. They look pretty fun, and the compass/gyro/accel module they have available really piques my interest.

I've got to clear my plate of a whole bunch of other stuff before I even attempt anything new like this, so there'll be time to make a decision down the road. Thanks again!

 

[Honus]

Phidgets are definitely pretty neat but it can get pretty expensive in a hurry. For accelerometer inputs I ended up using a Nintendo Wii Nunchuck- for $20 you get a 3 axis accelerometer, a joystick and two push buttons in a really simple interface. I wrote some code that lets you access all of the Wii functions. In my particular application I didn't need the joystick so I removed it from the Wii board to make the board as slim as possible.

 

[Honus]

Here's what the prototype transistor boards look like. I decided to go ahead and make two prototypes -one that is directly socketed to the controller and one that will connect with a cable. I'm starting to lean toward the cable connected version as I'm not really liking the way the socketed version sticks out. In the tutorial I'll also show how to build another version that can handle up to 5 Amp loads.

These boards have four transistors. The first board has three transistors for one output pin for grouping functions together. The second board has one transistor for each output pin. Since each transistor is a electronic switch, you can have multiple things turn on by pressing a single button. By pressing a single button you can have your faceplate raise up and turn off the eye lights- releasing the button lowers the faceplate and turns the lights on.

 

[hollywoodhardware]

Uh Honus, my head is humming

Would you consider designing me a custom servo controller? If so, please pm me.

Thomas

 

[Honus]

Uh Honus, my head is humming

Would you consider designing me a custom servo controller? If so, please pm me.

Thomas

PM sent!

 

[Dabo 90]

Man, this is AMAZING!

 

[p0g1]

awesome. i gotta try this

This is the hinge system that I have modified. Credit for the original design goes to StageFiveDrift over on youtube for this video:
YouTube - Iron Man Face Plate Hinge Setup

I have modified the positions of the pivot points, but that is it. Here are some photos of the locations of my hardware and shots of the animation.

Black donuts are pivot locations on the helmet, blue donuts are pivot locations on the faceplate, and the large circles are the path they follow
View attachment 30952
View attachment 30953
View attachment 30954
View attachment 30955
View attachment 30956
With these locations the upper arm will have to be J or L shaped in order to clear the top of the helmet. Also the top of the faceplate just barely rubs the top of the helmet, so the lip will have to be removed or beveled to keep from catching.

 

[Bugs]

wow this tread has been super awesome and a lot of help thanks guys.. (so i'm bringing it back and a year to the day from the last post too.. nice)

 

[guyver3869]

I agree, this thread has been a great help in my project. I hope to post my successful project soon. Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

 

[Triton]

Also looking for more info on doing this.