PipBoy 3000 Mk IV from Fallout 4 (mid-grade)

[bbroerman]

So, I'm working on building a PipBoy 3000, Mk IV for my oldest son. I started with YTEC's version (link: Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV Assembly – Ytec 3D) and started modifying from there...

I'm calling this one "Mid-Grade" because I think it's a step up from the base YTEC static model, but no where near as nice and detailed as others like Zapwizard's full pip-boy. I'm not a 3D modeller, or any kind of electronics expert, or an artist for that matter. I was trained as a computer engineer 30 years ago, but haven't done any kind of electronics in decades. I've been working as a software developer, and recently got into 3D printing as a hobby. I purchased my first Ender 3 V3 SE about 6 months ago, and got addicted to 3d printing.

I started with making a print of the 100% version, hoping to fit his cell phone in it. I wasn't extremely happy with the gaps in the top and bottom, so I took a 3D model of an iPhone 11 pro, and made a molding of the interior of the bezel cavity to fit on top of it, so that it filled the space completely. I then printed a very high resolution image of a PipBoy screen on my printed, and glued it to the insert. I did the same with the radio dial and rad gauge. Overall I was pretty happy with it, considering all of the screws and other hardware I had to buy. .

Unfortunately, it didn't fit his arm.

 

[bbroerman]

So, I started with a new one, this time with the 115% version. A friend of mine started asking "What was I using to drive the display". I felt bad when I told him it was just a printout from my regular old color printer... SO... I started researching.

I stumbled on an advertisement on Facebook for an Arduino and screen combination that seemed almost perfect: an Adafruit Qualia ESP32-S3 for TTL RGB-666 Displays and the 4" 480x480 display. I picked up one right away. This meant, though, that I would need to redesign the insert so that I could have the screen on one side, and the electronics on the back-side, all kept safe and secure. I would also need to cut the selection knob from the file of the right-hand side buttons so that it could be made to actually do something.

As I was printing out the pieces, I kept having to tweak them over and over again as I added more add-on boards to the main set of electronics, and same with the battery, charger, and power side of things. Due to space limitations, I put the battery, charger, and other power items on the inner wall of the cuff, crafting standoffs to hold things a bit away from the plastic, to be held down by small M2 scews.

Starting off, with just the ESP32 board and display, I began with using CircuitPython to load BMP files and rotate through them (one for each of the main selections of the select knob) I then wired a 10k linear potentiometer to the ADC on the microcontroller (using the available plug) and coded it to choose the picture based on the selection knob. This looked cool, BUT... It was VERY slow!

I saw the demo for the ESP32 with a fireplace playing a video. I figured this was a good route to go, as it looked faster... so I ditched CircuitPython and switched to C++ and Arduino code. Starting with the fireplace demo code. I picked up the SD card breakout, and put 6 MJPEG videos on it (I snagged from the internet, and converted according to the directions on the fireplace demo. Now, this took up all of my remaining GPIO lines, and the 2 analog to digital lines, so I had to get an A2D breakout. I didn't realize that at first, but I kept having weird problems every time it loaded a new file... then it clicked... I got the boot up sequence and then a video for each of the 5 main screens, and had it loop them.

The next step was adding sound. I knew for this one, I wouldn't need a ton of sounds, and I really wouldn't be changing them once they were in place... one for the boot up, one for changing the selection knob, one for changing the scroll wheel, one for the select button, and some later on for other effects (TBD). Looking around, I decided to go with the AdaFruit SoundFX board with the 2w amplifier. I could load up to 11 sound files, and had 16Mb to work with... I also had to put in an I2C GPIO extender to get the signals to tell the sound chip what to play and when. Due to space considerations, I went with the 8 output pin version. I wired one to the sound card reset, one to the volume up (since it was really quiet starting out), and the other 6 to sound trigger pins.

My final list of electronics parts for the main portion was:

• Qualia ESP32-S3 for TTL RGB-666 Displays
• 4" square TFT display
• 16Mb SoundFX card with 2w amplifier
• SD Card breakout (connected with 4 data pins, which uses up all the GPIO and ADC lines)
• I2C Rotary Encoder breakout board (for scroll wheel and select button)
• I2C 4 channel 12 bit Analog to Digital converter (Since I couldn't use the 2 channels on the ESP32-S3)
• I2C GPIO extender (which triggers the lines on the SoundFX board)

For the power side, I have:

• a 20000 mAh lipo battery,
• adafruit push button power switch breakout
• PowerBoost 1000c board (yeah, adafruit as well)
• the same lighted momentary pushbutton zapwizard used. good choice!

I had to hollow out the area under the power button to fit the switch and a "circuit board" (really an alignment piece). I also split ytec's lighted cap into 2 pieces, the cap and the ring, and then cut out the inside of the cap to better fit the light on the pushbutton...

Eventually, I got that part done, and started working on filling in the other pieces

 

[bbroerman]

I had to cut up the right hand side to fit in a really small rotary encoder. I wasn't sure what I was going to put in there for a long time. I found the blog of zapwizard and his Pip-Boy project, which gave me a LOT of great ideas... I started looking at his bill of materials, and picked out the same power button switch, and the same select button switch he did, for the same reasons... But the rotary encoder seemed way to small and delicate... I wound up going with a PES12-42S-N0024 from Mouser. I also got an STL model for the part, and cut out a place for it on the outer side of teh scroll wheel cavity, as well as a channel to run 3 wires down. The pins on the back were covered up by a hollowed out cap from YTECs model. I also shortened the select button, and cut a hole in the underside to fit the top of the electronic button I used... and then connected those to a 4 pin JST connector that would plug into the board's rotary encoder breakout board (luckily the ground for the button and encoder are the same).

I was was originally using zapwizard's idea for a ball plunger under the selection knob, and borrowed the detent holes from the underside of his selection knob, but I kept running into problems with the ball plunger pushing the knob up on the shaft, and getting loose, so that the feel of the detents eventually went away... I switched out to a potentiometer with built-in detents (21) and it worked a whole lot better! I did keep his idea of using small pieces of plastic molded into the body part as limits on rotation. I started with 1 on each end, but found they needed to be much wider to be strong enough.

For the scroll wheel, I got the encoder back far enough I could fit the wheel in. I took the end of the 3D model and made a cut in YTECs scroll wheel so it would key to the shaft of the encoder, and then added a spring-loaded plug on the other end to push back and keep it in place, and smooth out the rolling motion. I also put in a small plastic pin through the encoder and the wheel to help lock them in place. I really didn't need it per se, but I thought it would be helpful just in case.

I also cut the bottom end of the body piece, when I started looking into how I was going to do the radio knob and gauge. The space was just too tight, so I made it a separate piece. You can see in the image below, how they will fit in. I haven't made these yet as I will need a resin printer for the gears. I tried with my Ender 3, but they just didn't work as well as I would like.

I will say, using meshmixer to do all of this was a real pain... Unfortunately, I'm running an older PC, and don't have the money to really buy the one I need. But it worked. As you can see, I could cut and paste model pieces, cut out portions for the electronics I needed, holes for pins and guides, cut off YTECs select knob and make it into a real knob, etc.

Again, as with the other parts, this entailed a lot of tweaking ytec's models, printing them out, and tweakign them again, rinse and repeat severl iterations... I probably printed a dozen versions on this body piece before I got it how I wanted it to be.

 

[bbroerman]

Oh, as you can probably see, I started documenting this very late in the game... I only have a couple things left on version 1 of this, but I wanted to get something written down before I finish it all

 

[bbroerman]

Anyway, now that the main body was done (other than the radio gauge and selector, and the rad gauge - more on that later) I started on the holo tape deck.

I started with zapwizard's amazing work, but found that his parts didn't work the same with ytec's models... the fittment just isn't the same, so I decided to kind-of start from scratch... I added 2 pins to the bottom of the tape cover which will be grabbed by a locking bar that slides underneath... It rides on 2 2mm by 100mm steel rods that slide up and down through a slot on either side of the body. I wound up having to glue 4 very small plastic discs on the bars to center them in the assembly. I used small rubber bands as springs, the ones my daughter uses to put up her hair... I used the existing little notch that ytec had on the "tape arm 2" and copied/pasted them onto the body part to attach the other end of the rubber bands. On the lock bar, I drilled 2 small holes and added the M2 screws and looped rubber bands around them to provide the reset force.

On the eject button, I added a curved section to attach to the eject bar (borrowed from zapwizard and resized) which pushes on the locking bar to eject the tape deck... (yes, i know the picture shows a bar holding the pin in, but I wound up not using it. I wanted to be able to take it apart again easily, so the curved piece fits just enough around the eject bar to lock it in place, but I can still pop it off if I need to take it all apart) Next time I take it apart, I'll add a picture of just the locking mechanism from inside, to show the screws and rubber bands.

 

[bbroerman]

Next, I'm working on the USB cord reel on the back side. I used the Pipboy Mark IV Back reel edit by Oddoutput as a starting point, and looked at Zapwizard's reel in his blog and his CAD file... I didn't like the issues that he was having with the racheting mechanism, so I found an STL file for the mechanism used in a Craftsman retractible extension cord. I scaled it to the correct size, and started piecing it together. I printed one version of this so far, but I need to resin print it using a nylon like resin, so that it's smoother and slipperier around the shaft. I did reuse several of Zapwizard's STLs and ideas, though.

I'll be using the same heat-set brass insert at the top of the central shaft, to screw in the plate that holds it all together, I'm thinking of using the captured pin to hold the ratchet pawl in place, with a spring going back to the little loop I added to the inside of the spool cavity. I may opt for a rubber band again, who knows. I borrowed the rotary board with the 4 copper rings, but added some different alignment pins, and took the take-up circuit board and changed it's shape a bit. It also holds the pin and pawl, just to keep it all fitting inside the cavity I have available for it.

I do have a USB cable, and modified ytec's end pieces using parts of zapwizards's models to get everything to snap and screw into place...

 

[bbroerman]

So, I have come a long way in the past 3 months working on this. I'm sorry I wasn't documenting it all at the time. I'll update this as I get the cable reel, the rad gauge, and the radio dial done in the coming months. Here is a video of the completed system, showing the 60 MJPEG files for each of the different pages and sub-screens... I will be re-doing these when I can. These are all clipped from the "pipboy second screen walkthrough" on YouTube. I've clipped them out using Pinnacle Studio and MPEG VCR, and then converted them to MJPEGs at 480x480 and 12 frames a second using Convertio online...

 

[bbroerman]

Oh, I also have to SLA print the clear cover for the screen. I will be masking and painting the back-side of it so that it only shows the screen. For now, I'm using the black craft tape just to block it in...

I wish I could find a 4.5" or so 4:3 aspect ratio screen. It seems they don't make any decent size 4:3 screens. I can only find really small ones (3" 320x240 or less) or aspect ratios that don't really buy me any additional useable space (like 800x480 bar screens). If anyone has links to a 640x480 or an 800x600 screen between 4.5 and 5.0 inches, I'd love to know...

 

[bbroerman]

Printed and sanded (up to 3000 grit) a mold for the front screen cover. I'm going to wind up casting it in clear epoxy instead of printing it. I'll also try get get a friend of mine to laser cut the clear covers for the rad gauge and radio dial. I'm hoping to get a Elegoo Saturn 4 this fall to print out the gears and other small pieces that are too detailed for the Ender 3.

 

[bbroerman]

In the mean time, I'm going back and making a version with Vtec's 100% model. Just to see if I can make everything fit... I found a 3.4" square display that works with the microcontroller I already have, and found a rotary encoder that will fit. For the other pieces, I'm meshmixing the models to make it all fit.

 

[bbroerman]

Decided to cast the screen cover in clear epoxy resin. Next time I definitely will use a release agent, even though the website said I didn't need one. It was sticking quite a bit to the mold, and peeled off some of the paint I had on the PLA to seal it. It's still somewhat pliable, so I hope it hardens completely so I can sand it (Picked up 1000, 2000, and 3000 grit sandpaper). May need to try again with more hardner in the mix. Picture when it's done.

 

[bbroerman]

The screen insert hardened perfectly after about 4 days, and it's crystal clear. Wet sanded it with 2000 and 3000 grit papers, and now I'm shopping around for some light tinting film to put on the back (to even out the differences between the screen and the black tape masking it on the sides). Now, it's a little (very little) cloudy, but I think that's surface level, where it was up against the mold. I probably have to sand it a little bit more... BUT, I think that's ok, honestly. These things are supposedly a couple hundred years old? I imagine a little cloudiness in the display glass would be common in universe.


I ordered the circuit board (from Elecrow) for the Rad gauge, and printed out the diffuser, the display piece, and spacers. I still have to order the SMT LED chips, and the Simco MAC bipolar motor (and the controller from adafruit). I'm going to try to control it using just one signal so that it jumps from 0 up to about 45 degrees for each pulse (may try PWM). Here's a CAD image of the setup. It will fit perfectly in the gauge space.

 

[bbroerman]

if ANYONE wants my modified STLs, list of purchased materials, code for the microcontroller, etc. just let me know. Freely available to all who ask.

 

[MojaveTrooper]

This is really cool!

 

[bunniimallows]

if ANYONE wants my modified STLs, list of purchased materials, code for the microcontroller, etc. just let me know. Freely available to all who ask.

I created an account on here to ask if it’s possible for you to slide the modified stls my way. I’m hoping to make this for my cousin, and it’s the perfect balance between zapwizards model and ytec in my opinion.

 

[bbroerman]

Fritzing diagram (as best as I can), The library items for the Pushbutton Power Switch and for the Rotary Encoder Breakout don't have versions without the button and the encoder, so I can show them separately (like they really are)

So, the rotary encoder fits into the side of the scroll wheel housing (barely) and 3 wires run down from there, 2 come from the pushbutton switch itself, and runs to a 4-pin plug, which mates up with a socket in the side of the caddy. The wires from the socket run to the Rotary Encoder Breakout board.

The potentiometer for the selection switch and the micro potentiometer for the radio dial all connect to the ADC. Like the other connections, I have plugs and sockets to keep the stress off the solder joints on the boards. I also hot-glue around the solder joints for extra support.

The power switch (same one as ZapWizard) is hot glued to a 3D printed board and has wires soldered directly on to it. Those run to the pushbutton power switch in the diagram (in place of it's pushbutton), and the LED inside the switch hooks up to the output power from the PowerBoost through a 220 ohm resistor.

I have the USB-C plug breakout (in the side of the front piece) connected to both the PowerBoost board (through a micro-usb plug breakout plug) and the Qualia microcontroller (through a USB-C breakout plug) As you see in the diagram, the power lines go to the PowerBoost, and the D+ and D- go to the microcontroller (along with the 5v power OUT from the PowerBoost). This way I can program from the side plug without taking it all apart again. (I can barely reach the boot and reset buttons with the tape deck taken off

Also, this diagram shows a few things I haven't put in place yet: The 2nd GPIO extender, and the bipolar motor / controller. I'll be doing these next when I work on the rad gauge. (The 2nd GPIO also lets me add 4 more sound effect triggers for the SoundFX board. I'll most likely use 3 of these for radio stations, and one for the sound effect when the "adapter" usb is plugged in. I'll add more if I can get the motor controller board to use fewer lines)

I plan on having the takeup reel only transfer power (the rotor board only has 2 rings), and have that either connect to the power inputs of the PowerBoost as well (you won't have both that and the side usb plugged in at the same time) or maybe I'll just run those to a micro solenoid, and have it trigger a line on the GPIO so it can play a sound when plugged in... Not sure yet.

 

[bbroerman]

I created an account on here to ask if it’s possible for you to slide the modified stls my way. I’m hoping to make this for my cousin, and it’s the perfect balance between zapwizards model and ytec in my opinion.

Let me get everything into a Google Drive and I'll post the link. It will be a mix of STLs and a bunch of Meshmixer files. I'll also post the arduino code file. (Don't have room in my google account for all the media yet) I'm hoping to document assembly procedures at some point. I'm also still working on getting the radio dial and reel correct, so those files may or may not work *yet* but I am working on them...

Google Drive link: PipBoy 3000 MKIV Modified files - Google Drive

If you want it as just a big ZIP file, click here: PipBoy zip file (3.5 GB)

Now, these are the CHANGED files, the things I redesigned or changed. You will still have to download VTECs originals (115%) and fill in the gaps. Also, I'm still working on cleaning up the names of things so that they match the originals, and the meshmixer shell names all match the names of the individual STLs. Use the mix files to show how things all go together. I mainly used them to make sure everything would fit before I put it all together.

Also note, you don't have to print everything. There are a bunch of files there for the adafruit boards, or electronics parts, or other mechanical or hardware components that I use in the mix files to verify placement and design... You don't have to print those Once you look through the list, you should be able to tell which is which. Especially after looking through the different mix files.

 

[bbroerman]

I should be getting the circuit board for the rad gauge within the next week or so. As soon as I verify it's good, I'll order the Simco MAC motor, the surface mount LEDs, and the Adafruit motor controller. I am still looking for someone to laser cut the cover glass.

Next up, after that, is the radio dial. I ordered the hardware, now I just need to get someone to SLA or SLS print the gears for me. The potentiometer will be connected to A1 of the 4 channel ADC, and I'll add a check after every video frame that plays (where I check the rotary encoder and main selector knob). I'll figure out some random ranges of values to play the other audio clips I have for the radio stations ( I have room for 3 more. 4 if I make them shorter)

 

[bbroerman]

I uploaded the KiCad files to the Google Drive. No clue if they're right, as I haven't designed PCBs in over 30 years. I guess I'll see when I get them back from the fab.

 

[bbroerman]

Decided to go to Ponoko.com. to see if they could cut the acrylic covers. One set was $40 (a second set would only add a few more, but I only needed 1 set for now) I'll let you all know how it turned out.