"Help!" for: Electronics

[TwistedKiwi]

I have a quick question about lighting up the armor. I know that the more used method is to take individual bulbs and wires and batteries and wire it all together and tape/glue all the wiring to the inside of the armor and installing homemade switches, and yadda yadda yadda. But I was thinking it'd be a helluva lot easier to just take those LED key-chain flashlights that are no bigger than a 50-cent piece, and tape those to the inside where they're supposed to go. It's cheaper, easier to fix and replace, WAY easier to turn them all on, you can put more of the lights in, and any fool can do it. So I guess my question was, why do I not see this pretty much at all? Is there some negative effect that small lights have, do they wear out too easily, or am I seriously the only one who's thought of this? Any clarification at all would be great.

 

[Katsu]

Well... It isn't quite the "yadda yadda" experience you are making it out to be, and you may want to take a look at why people DO the light system, rather than why they DON'T.

The keylight idea is interesting, but it presents a few problems:
1) You need to turn each light on individually, chief's suit has like 8 or 10 lights on it, that's sort of obnoxious to do every time.
2) The batteries.. The small keylights get their small size by running off button-cells, which are notoriously expensive. Even on amazon you're looking at ~$2 each, which is 20 bucks to replace the suit's system.
Conversely, a set of 2-4 AA batteries could power a lighting system for a long time, and cost maybe a dollar to replace all 4. (12 bucks for 48 on amazon)

As for why people use the system.. there are some good reason to. It doesn't invalidate other options, but the electronics systems can be very enticing to some.
1) A single on/off, there isn't a home-made switch for every light. You buy a single switch from radio shack or amazon, tie everything to that and it controls the whole thing. They can be any size you need.
2) The batteries.. as I already mentioned, a central power source is more managable, especially if you lose juice mid-convention.
3) Price. The keylights run 2-8$ each, from a cursory glance at the internet, which would be 20-80$ for the suit. The electronics for a system would be: 8-10LEDs, 8-10Resistors, wire, batteries, switch. If you poke at the common internet sources for electronics, you can do that for like 10-15$.
4) Reliability. A decently designed lighting system doesn't really fail that much. the LEDs are solid state, and the wiring if glued down properly, won't be getting torn or anything, so they shouldn't need fixing really. Put a disconnect on the battery pack and you can easily remove it for battery replacement.
5) Learning.. A lot of costuming is also a learning experience. A lot of people like doing the option that also lets them learn new skills.

This isn't to say the keylight idea is bad, it's quite an inventive way to get lighting if you have no desire to learn electronics. I just wanted to answer your question as to the thought process that goes into a lighting system. There are pros and cons to every idea, and it's up to the individual to decide which is right for them.

 

[Carpathia]

It's not a completely unheard of method. I've seen people use the lights you clip onto a book to read in the dark for their lighting systems. Katsu makes a few good points, though. A custom designed system (not as difficult to do as it sounds) will serve you much better than anything you can drop in.

 

[TwistedKiwi]

Alright, thanks guys! Great input from both of you. I am however, a noob. So I do think that for my first suit I will go ahead with the keychain-light thing. I completely believe both of you though when you say the customized wiring isn't actually too hard, but I just want to kind of test the waters with my first suit. If I really get into costuming, I'll most certainly look into electronics more and probably wire up my own suits. Thanks again! Always great to learn

 

[Rorshack]

Hello comrades , Id lke to know how would I power up various small lights into a helmet. Id like to know wether each one of them has to have a separate power source or should they all be put together. For example im sure you guys know that most of the helmets in halo 4 don't have actual lights unlike the Master chief (MK V) helmet that has lights where he can see in dark places or rooms used for giving him light. Most helmets in halo 4 have lights but are scattered everywhere throughout a helmet and are mostly used as the helmet's decoration rather than serving a actual purpose.So what im asking is how do I apply these small lights into a pepakura. Just for more information for you guys im trying to apply this on a (locus) helmet. Thank you

 

[Carpathia]

There are quite a few different ways to incorporate lights into a helmet. My own method is to design and build my own circuit fed from one power supply in each piece. I would finish the helmet first, keeping in mind where I want the lights to be during the process; then, when the helmet is finished, drill holes or cut grooves as necessary and install the lights how I see fit.

Take a look around the forums at other people's builds. My own Mk VI built incorporates lights (post #22 covers installation of electronics in the helmet).

 

[Rorshack]

sounds like a plan thanks a lot!

 

[TwistedKiwi]

Hey Rorshack! I'm still angry about how you died

Anywhoo, yeah Carpathia is right about finishing it first and then drilling in the holes. I've seen some people use a dremel, which is good for special shapes, or you can just use a power drill for a simple hole. But yeah, I did notice that about quite a few of the Halo 4 helmets. Then lights were just kinda all slapped willy-nilly with no real tactical layout. But they still cool xD

 

[Rorshack]

I kno I should have lived but I did it because I couldn't live with it

 

[thatdecade]

Hey guys.
Also, just curious if there are any small screens out there I could put in the mask with a camera in the chin to give me better vision then the slots under the eye lenses.

I'll tell you right now that any sort of screen you may want to put in (assuming you can even find something that small) would be far too close to your eyes to be effective.

I have a pair of video glasses that I connected to a mini camera over rca cables. Works well enough to navigate a room. Is enough vision to avoid bumping into objects and enough resolution that you can read signs.

Glasses: http://www.vuzix.com/consumer/products_wrap310.html
Camera: http://amzn.com/B003SX0RMW

I bought both from ebay for cheap.

Down side is the lack of peripheral vision. Maybe if I added a parabolic mirror to the camera? That is how they do 3d room images.
That model also comes with a 30pin connector for apple devices. In theory, you can use that for camera.

There are quite a few different ways to incorporate lights into a helmet. My own method is to design and build my own circuit fed from one power supply in each piece.

Agreed. Even though the LED tutorial in my signature goes over using reading lights in your suit. That is the easiest way for beginners, but not the best way. Installing a reading light in your helmet means shoehorning extra plastic in an already cramped area

The best way is making your own LED wiring. I like the big 10mm LEDs for helmet lights, no extra diffuser needed.

Example of 10mm, non-diffused: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3125355

Your own wiring also allows you to combine the lights to a single battery pack. Easy maintenance for events.
Just don't get carried away with wires everywhere through your suit / helmet. One set of wiring and battery pack for each armor piece. Wires between pieces makes taking the suit on and off troublesome.

 

[Renton117]

Hay all, a group of my friends and I are forming a fire team, so matching armour colour, symbol that kind of thing, we want to run a mic system in our helmets so we can talk to each other in a con with out being near each other or having to yell to hear each other.

My question is what would be the best way to do this and has any one done this before?

 

[Jason 078]

Hay all, a group of my friends and I are forming a fire team, so matching armour colour, symbol that kind of thing, we want to run a mic system in our helmets so we can talk to each other in a con with out being near each other or having to yell to hear each other.

My question is what would be the best way to do this and has any one done this before?

My Mando Mercs unit did the same thing for Star Wars Celebration V. All you need is a good motorola and a PTT button.

Wire the throat mic up to the motorola as well as your speaker system. The PTT button is a thumb-button under your gloves. All you need to do is push the button to talk to your friends. If you don't want to broadcast what you're saying, you'll need to wire the PTT to cut the speaker (but we never do).

 

[CaptainKrole]

Ok so I have seen some talk about linking up lights in a suit together and that it's not that great of an idea because taking off and putting on the suit could ruin the wiring. But I've only seen this for using one power source. I'm wondering if there is a way to link up all the lights and everything to one switch, not a power source, and have separate power sources for each section? Some help would be much appreciated!

 

[EVAkura]

Ok so I have seen some talk about linking up lights in a suit together and that it's not that great of an idea because taking off and putting on the suit could ruin the wiring. But I've only seen this for using one power source. I'm wondering if there is a way to link up all the lights and everything to one switch, not a power source, and have separate power sources for each section? Some help would be much appreciated!

You would have to find a multi I/O switch. As I am sure you are aware, if you tie all of your leads into one switch, you will be sharing the power with all of the battery packs, which would be very bad... especially if they are of varying voltage! If you found a multi I/O switch, then you would have separate lines for each battery pack to cut on and off the power to your electronic devices. Hope that helps.

 

[blackout11c]

Ok so I have seen some talk about linking up lights in a suit together and that it's not that great of an idea because taking off and putting on the suit could ruin the wiring. But I've only seen this for using one power source. I'm wondering if there is a way to link up all the lights and everything to one switch, not a power source, and have separate power sources for each section? Some help would be much appreciated!

Right, one way you could approach the issue with assembly wiring is to have some of these (male/female, respectively) -

with some sort of shield around them, at each joint. But, as EVAkura said, you would need to have a multi I/O switch to link them together, presumably in the chest piece. And then, more than one switch. The biggest I could find was this:

Hop this helps.

 

[CaptainKrole]

That helps out a lot actually, thanks guys!

 

[EVAkura]

I was thinking more like this... which would give you multiple I/O with just one power switch. (I think the switch will have to be powered too, but not sure) Or, you can make your own, but just a mechanical version. It would be cool, but not just a simple task like going to the electronics shop and picking one up



Sorry if the symbols are not exact, I am just an above average novice at this

 

[CaptainKrole]

It's alright, it helps out a lot nonetheless, thanks!!

 

[CaptainKrole]

Ok sorry for the double post, but I have another question that is kindof in the same field as my last question.

So I've heard a lot of talk about people putting a speaker on the outside of their suit and having a mic inside the suit so that people can hear you when you are at a convention or other noisy area. But I've also heard about people trying to have walkie talkies with other people so that they can speak privately with eachother. But what if I wanted to do both of these things. Would there be a way to have a button on the outside of the helmet so that I can try and switch from a private conversation to publicly speaking? If so a good description would be much appreciated. And if I need to clarify my question just let me know.

 

[EVAkura]

You are killin' me smalls! JK



If this does not explain it, or you have any questions about the diagram, feel free to ask.