"Help!" for: Electronics

[thatdecade]

Can get the arduino from anywhere, doesn't have to be the webstores I linked. I didn't even know radioshack carried arduinos.

Awesome
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12268262

 

[SpartanT117]

it was funny, cause I was like, "hey radioshack is an electronics store, let's check it out while we're at gamestop." and lo and behold, they sell a kit for like, 150 or so of everything you need, and I was like, "meh, i was just looking for the board." and looked some more and found I believe an Uno for like 30.

 

[hyundai2806]

No, armor can never be made strong enough for paintballing. Someone put up a vid a while back demonstrating shooting paintalls at suit. The paintball punch holes straight through.

ACTUALLY.. there is a product that devon came out with that is SUPER high abrasive and impact resistant
its almost like liquid steel only built for constant punishment call ( Dfense Blok)

now i honestly wouldve coated my suit in this..ive seen video tests of this with a hydraulic anvil beating the hell out of a tile that was coated in the DFblok

ONLY thing is...its super expensive. and with as tough and durable as it is.. it seems like its a putty, once it sets i doubt sanding would go anywhere with it so getting your perfect edges would be near impossible.
unless you bondod over that THEN sanded..but the armor would be so thick youd have to size up and its be heavy im sure..just my 2 cents...

 

[thatdecade]

Ok, I'll revise my comment. No homemade armor from paper can ever be made comfortable or strong enough for paintball protection.

More info:
https://www.google.com/search?q=+site:405th.com+paintball+pepakura+helmet

 

[sik1276]

Yeah pepakura armor won't be good for airsoft. BUT if you really want to go Halo in the filed, Evike made this, a larger version will be released later.

http://www.evike.com/product_info.php?products_id=37444

 

[drack]

Hey guys wondered if any one can help me out. I have just wired up the LEDs in my gravity hammer. I will be putting in 8 X 9v batteries in series to power it but I am aware that the return voltage will fry the last battery. I have 75 ultabright 3.5v LEDs all in parallel. Do I need to pop a resister in or something of that nature to stop the batteries cooking?

 

[TheRabbit]

Hey guys wondered if any one can help me out. I have just wired up the LEDs in my gravity hammer. I will be putting in 8 X 9v batteries in series to power it but I am aware that the return voltage will fry the last battery. I have 75 ultabright 3.5v LEDs all in parallel. Do I need to pop a resister in or something of that nature to stop the batteries cooking?

8x 9v batteries in series is equivalent to a 71V battery, 65 3.5V LEDs in parallel would require 3.5V to power... So your battery is producing 67V more than you need it to... Bad design.

 

[chitwood1775]

Hey Hyundai, do you know where I could get an idea of how much that product Devon came out with is? Possibly buy it.

Also, how would one soder these LEDs into an electrical circuit?
http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/component-leds/cree-xre-series-1-watt-white-led-wc-q3/904/

 

[thatdecade]

Those 9v batteries are not known for their battery life. You'll have a better time with D batteries. Plenty of room in your gravity hammer to hide the size and weight.


8 of those 9v cells wired in parallel would have a life capacity of 4000mAh. Those ultrabrights are gonna pull a bit of juice, 30mA each I assume. So... 75 LEDs at 30mA each, 2250mA.
4000mAh/2250= less than 2 hours of runtime

This will be expensive to run on 9volts.

Running the same math with instead 3 D batteries TRIPLES the battery life. 6 hours is enough for at least a whole evening.

There are some other tricks to extend that further too. Let me know what you want to do.

 

[thatdecade]

Also, how would one soder these LEDs into an electrical circuit?
http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/component-leds/cree-xre-series-1-watt-white-led-wc-q3/904/

Easy enough, just fill in the numbers, wire like the picture. From the product page, I entered 6V (4AA) as the source, 3.7 and 1000 as the forward numbers. Needs a 2.7Watt or greater resistor of approx 2.7 ohms.
http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz/

Those luxeons need to keep them from overheating. Note the built in heatsink in the description. What isn't mentioned is the resistor. The high wattage ones are made of ceramic for heat dissipation, because those suckers get hot! Careful what you put it next to.

If you are interested in luxeon, I recommend this kit. Comes with everything you need for cheap. White color is available from the drop down.
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Build-Your-Own-Seoul-P4-Electronics-Kit-P469.aspx

 

[chitwood1775]

That kit looks great! I'm planning on using these LEDs for the flashlights in the helmet. I want to be able to actually use those as a flashlight.

Is there a way to fire these together do I can turn them all on with one switch?

 

[thatdecade]

Make sure to aim them downward, toward your walking path. Aiming them straight ahead will blind people. Luxeon LEDs are low level lasers. Not safe to look directly at.

You can wire them to the same battery pack (wire in parallel to one switch), or a separate battery pack (use a DPDT switch).

 

[chitwood1775]

But then wouldn't the battery life be cut significantly?

 

[thatdecade]

Operating two on one battery would cut the battery life in half.

Can still do the two battery pack, one switch option. Did you find out what a DPDT switch was? It is used to switch on / off two isolated circuits.

The picture here explains it well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch#Contact_terminology

 

[MjolnirGraphics]

Has anyone ever tried/succeeded in using an integrated helmet cam into their armor?

We got some GoPro HD Hero cams at work, and after some thinking... the 'Operator' helmet in Reach already has the 'sensor' thingy on the forehead. Seems like there would be two decent ways to do it:

A. Mount the GoPro inside the sensor package and run a RCA cable into a small LCD mounted inside the visor. Probably should include some extra battery power... Easy to wire up, but not very easy to control the camera :-/

B. Mount the GoPro inside the sensor package with an extra battery and the Wi-Fi BacPac. This would allow you to control it remotely, and view the video from a smartphone. ...hmm... maybe it is time to get a smartphone? You could mount it in the forearm and control it there. Also, this would allow the sensor package to be easily removed to swap batteries or cards, or even mount it on another helmet? Or if you really wanted to, just hand it off to someone else to record something you're doing.

 

[Spartan 010]

Has anyone ever tried/succeeded in using an integrated helmet cam into their armor?

We got some GoPro HD Hero cams at work, and after some thinking... the 'Operator' helmet in Reach already has the 'sensor' thingy on the forehead. Seems like there would be two decent ways to do it:

A. Mount the GoPro inside the sensor package and run a RCA cable into a small LCD mounted inside the visor. Probably should include some extra battery power... Easy to wire up, but not very easy to control the camera :-/

B. Mount the GoPro inside the sensor package with an extra battery and the Wi-Fi BacPac. This would allow you to control it remotely, and view the video from a smartphone. ...hmm... maybe it is time to get a smartphone? You could mount it in the forearm and control it there. Also, this would allow the sensor package to be easily removed to swap batteries or cards, or even mount it on another helmet? Or if you really wanted to, just hand it off to someone else to record something you're doing.

I have seen it done by someone making a Hulk Buster Iron Man suit. So, I know it can be done. The only problem with that, is the visual blurriness. The only way you can counter this problem is by having a very high resolution LCD screen. This way your eyes can "process the information" so to speak, without getting cross-eyed. What they Iron Man suit builder did, was he stood about 10 feet tall so he put the camera in his chest (allowing him to see about normal height and by using a high resolution LCD (from a hand held camera) he was able to see quite well.)

Controlling the camera: You may not really have to. If you put it in a straight, non-moving position, you should be able to see whatever your head sees rather than your eyes. Since you can move your eyes to see about 180~ degrees, it would feel awkward only being able to see 60~ degrees from the camera's "eye" and you would have to turn your head to look where you want, versus just looking around with your head and eyes.

If you have the money / an old camera lying around, I'd go ahead and try it. I'd keep the aperture lens along with the "eye" that way you can have instant "binoculars" at the touch of a button. haha You may want to wait for a more experienced person to answer your questions before you do it.

 

[n00bz]

Hello im new to the site and am thinking about making an ODST helmet with a working camera mount but have no idea how to make the camera

 

[MjolnirGraphics]

Thanks Spartan-010
In the meantime I heard back from a GoPro HD Hero representative.
The HUD seems an unlikely possibility at this point with their gear, anyway, don't need a constant display anyway, just an occasional alignment/framing check. So, chances are the best thing to do would be to get the "WiFi BacPac" and mount a smartphone on the forearm. You could then control and 'watch' the camera from there.
Regardless though, I just got the H4 armor files, so gonna "back-burner" this idea for now...

n00bz
You probably want to buy a camera rather than make one.
As for the enclosure, for an ODST, I'd probably make a mount either on the side or top of the helmet, maybe modify one of the Reach Scout/Operator housings to fit the ODST helmet.

 

[n00bz]

Would a motorcycle helmet cam work?

 

[Cloviz]

is it possible to wire all LED's and fans to different batteries but be operated by one switich? how exactly would i do that and is it wise?