Sandbagger's Iron Man builds - Now in STEEL.

Austuck117 · Jan 20, 2016

OH MY GOD! IT'S TONY STARK! I am such a big fan. You are my favorite super hero!
Seriously though. WOW! That armor is every Iron Man fan's dream. Surprised it only weighs 35 kg. Would of thought it would be more considering that it is steel. Cannot WAIT to see it with paint! It's gonna look INCREDIBLE!

BuildsByBaz · Jan 21, 2016

^^^^ Thanks dude.

My friend Joffy came through for me tonight with some of the electronics which have just arrived from overseas. We got together this evening to trial the video glasses and a camera inside the helmet to check for field of view, fit and clearances.

We tried it first with the entire frame in there, but the frames were too tight and jambing up on the hinges.

So then we cut the frames off and taped the unit inside the faceplate.

We used an old security camera to test it and I can't believe how well I can now see!! It's AMAZING!! I told plenty of scoffers that this would work so I am feeling very smug now.

We have a lot of work to do.

transmut1 · Jan 21, 2016

Ok the camera and view lenses is just to much, freakin awesome!!!!!

PerniciousDuke · Jan 21, 2016

My dad thought I should do this on the helmet I'm building right now. I thought it was a cool idea, but ridiculous. VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!! Now you just need an ear piece with someone pretending to be Jarvis on the other end.

Where are you going to hide the camera?

peterthethinker · Jan 21, 2016

HMDs are super usefull! . One perk is the cams we use today are CCD or CMOS both are rather sensitive to Near IR so they make a handy dandy night vision system with some IR LEDs to light up the area.

kaween · Jan 21, 2016

Yup.
And cheap mini/spy 1080p's (although with a setup like that, a good 720p module will be sufficient I've no doubt) cam modules are available to tinker around with.
I'm a bit on limb here, but may I suggest a camera with a viewing angle of at least 120 degrees, most of these spy cams do 90 degrees and that's very unnatural to look "through'.

Anybody with some background in the FPV quad game will know what I mean. flying FPV (which is acutally more or less Sandbagger will be doing but in a horizontal plane

) with a 90 degree lens is like looking at the world with your head stuck in a pipe.

I'd like to know more about those glases you're using there if possible ?

peterthethinker · Jan 21, 2016

I have some Back up cams for cars I got for 9 bucks a pop. its flipped ! but the lens is that One kinda defacto mount used for most 1/4 inch sensor cams

So I have removed the lens and I am gonna transplant it ... ALso you can get some WIde angle optics for cellpjhones and they are sized to fit small sensors . I made a ultra wide webcam that way.

Sandbagger... those are VERY low profile glasses . may I ask what brand they are ?

kaween · Jan 21, 2016

That's one way to do it. Most backup cams are what, 1cmx1cmx1cm in size so they can be tucked away/hidden quite easy. Backup cams come with wide angle views, most of the times 120 degrees in the vertical plane, and 170 in the horizontal plane producing a slighly distorted view. "Problem" with them is most of them push out a very low res picture, like 352x288. Better ones do "tv" like resolutions (704x576), but a cheap, better spycam module will do 720p, producing a much better picture.

If you're looking for higher quality, you could look into stuff like Moebius action camera : they're available around 50USD on Ali, they do real 1080p and are available in a wide range of lenses. They can record AND push out a CVBS video signal while recording, but there's a ever so slight delay between image and action. If you'd use that to walk around, motion sickness is pre-programmed.

But for a "one eye on display, one eye at the world" setup, it would serve very well.

Peter, I know about the "add lens" things, work pretty well, most will produce a roughly 120 degree view too.

ps : I'm currently looking into retrofitting that INSIDE my helmet. My wife asked to take some pictures of the next event, and as I don't like the idea of walking around in outfil with a smartphone or camera, the idea of a hidden camera that is remotely controlled came up. Still waiting for the parts to arrive though.

And yeah, I'd like to know more about those glasses. Wouldn't be surprised if they're used for FPV flying purposes. From the looks of it, I'd guess Sandbagger is using VG260's which are pretty good for their money. They're pretty low res however, meaning a 720p camera is already overkill. -presuming I'm correct about my assumption on the used glasses of course-.

If anyone is looking for "the best of both world"/google-glass type of device on the cheap, https://learn.adafruit.com/diy-wearable-pi-near-eye-kopin-video-glasses/overview could be an good low-cost solution for those who still want/looking/searching to combine a camera image in one eye and a real-world view with the other.

BuildsByBaz · Jan 21, 2016

A media team visited me this morning and conducted an interview and took photos. I'll post links to the story later.

Gents, I'll answer your above questions later. I have to read up on the glasses to get you the info. No time right now, (domestic duties call).

The camera is 140 degrees and the view is wonderful. Walking around with it is a dream. I have cameras with smaller physical dimensions to fit behind the faceplate. More on that later.

The key here is to keep it simple. The more complex, the slower the progress, the more expensive and the more that can go wrong.

RYNO 666 · Jan 21, 2016

Sandbagger said:
A media team visited me this morning and conducted an interview and took photos. I'll post links to the story later.

Gents, I'll answer your above questions later. I have to read up on the glasses to get you the info. No time right now, (domestic duties call).

The camera is 140 degrees and the view is wonderful. Walking around with it is a dream. I have cameras with smaller physical dimensions to fit behind the faceplate. More on that later.

The key here is to keep it simple. The more complex, the slower the progress, the more expensive and the more that can go wrong.

That's fantastic! Can't wait to see it.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

Rooster · Jan 21, 2016

Wow, I've been playing around with the idea of a live video feed to see through, I'd love love see an in-depth walkthrough of your process if you ever get the time.

It looks like you're right on the edge of a finished suit! I can practically taste the anticipation in the air!

hopkins77 · Jan 21, 2016

Absolutely amazing! And for all the haters that say it can't be done, you got to just say **** off. Keep thinking out side the box, because it's obviously working. You suit is going to so ridiculously cool when it's done. Seriously, you got the media interested, that should say enough. Great work man!

BuildsByBaz · Jan 21, 2016

Here’s the online story:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-22/canberra-dad-recreates-iron-man-suit/7105426

We’ll play the radio story on 666 on Monday sometime between 5pm-6pm.

kaween · Jan 22, 2016

Heh ! Enjoy your well deserved time in the sun ! Which considering where you live shouldn't be a hard thing to do anyway.

Just out of curiosity, I'm going to read all the previous pages just wondering why you seem to have gotten negative reactions on the original camera idea ?

I mean, of course this works. You can buy a low-cost Quad copter for years with a FPV function which allows navigation and flight-through-the-lens (Hubsan 107D, Wltoys 686G .. and that's just the stuff I've flown with myself.) while transmitting the image over distances of 100meter to the pilot using off-the-shelve available electronics.
As long as your viewangle is good enough, navigating like that is an absolute blast. The only thing that takes a bit to get used to is the lack of depth perception, but you learn to compensate for that quite fast by taking notice of known reference points in the picture you're seeing.

Hindsight is always 20/20 ect ect and it's probably easy for me tor me to say so now, but technically there was absolutly NO reason why this SHOULDN'T work.

Just read up on the online story. Saw the pictures of the used video glasses.

I'm really betting you're using the VG260's, these run at a resolution of 320x240 or something which sound pretty low, but when put before your face, they feel like looking at a 50" screen at a distance of 2 meters. Short review of them :

Anyhow, reading that article about the way and reason this armor has come to be only resulted in me admiring the guy in the suit far more, and I don't mean Mr. Stark.

BuildsByBaz · Jan 22, 2016

kaween said:
Heh ! Enjoy your well deserved time in the sun ! Which considering where you live shouldn't be a hard thing to do anyway.

Just out of curiosity, I'm going to read all the previous pages just wondering why you seem to have gotten negative reactions on the original camera idea ?

I mean, of course this works. You can buy a low-cost Quad copter for years with a FPV function which allows navigation and flight-through-the-lens (Hubsan 107D, Wltoys 686G .. and that's just the stuff I've flown with myself.) while transmitting the image over distances of 100meter to the pilot using off-the-shelve available electronics.
As long as your viewangle is good enough, navigating like that is an absolute blast. The only thing that takes a bit to get used to is the lack of depth perception, but you learn to compensate for that quite fast by taking notice of known reference points in the picture you're seeing.

Hindsight is always 20/20 ect ect and it's probably easy for me tor me to say so now, but technically there was absolutly NO reason why this SHOULDN'T work.

Just read up on the online story. Saw the pictures of the used video glasses.

I'm really betting you're using the VG260's, these run at a resolution of 320x240 or something which sound pretty low, but when put before your face, they feel like looking at a 50" screen at a distance of 2 meters. Short review of them :

Anyhow, reading that article about the way and reason this armor has come to be only resulted in me admiring the guy in the suit far more, and I don't mean Mr. Stark.

I can't remember if it was on this forum or a few others.

Update:

Tonight I moved the optical unit below the eyes and angled them up. BINGO! Much more comfortable to look at, feels more natural, solves my clearance issue and clears the way for the AV in jack.

Using stiff card and hot glue to prototype a removable bracket that will secure both eye lights plus the optical unit.

Bracket fabricated. All I have to do is weld two drilled and tapped tabs inside the faceplate and the whole lot will be a one-piece screw in, screw out.

Tabs folded, drilled and tapped, ready for a quick tack weld to the inside of the faceplate. The screws are leftovers from an old computer I pulled apart years ago. They've proven very handy.

Those eyes....

Video camera arrived. 170deg Super-wide.

kaween · Jan 22, 2016

Be careful with those. At 170°, distortion is inevidable and distance judging becomes even more difficult, which I don't have to explain to a former professional photographer like yourself.

Makes me wonder.

Are you planning to incorperate that into the armor or the helmet ? If it would be in the armor (so more or less stationary) I understand the reason for such a wide angle lens.
If you're looking to incoperate that into the helmet (moving part), a lesser angle wouldn't be as necessary and it would give a more natural point of view.

Ah, and any chance that interview can be recorded/streamed ? I think a lot of us would like that.

BuildsByBaz · Jan 22, 2016

kaween said:
Be careful with those. At 170°, distortion is inevidable and distance judging becomes even more difficult, which I don't have to explain to a former professional photographer like yourself.

Makes me wonder.

Are you planning to incorperate that into the armor or the helmet ? If it would be in the armor (so more or less stationary) I understand the reason for such a wide angle lens.
If you're looking to incoperate that into the helmet (moving part), a lesser angle wouldn't be as necessary and it would give a more natural point of view.

Ah, and any chance that interview can be recorded/streamed ? I think a lot of us would like that.

We will be playing with a few. (It will be in the helmet). The old security camera I just trialled has a 140 degree view which is just lovely. A tiny bit more would be nice, but I think 170 degrees would take some practice walking in the whole suit to get used to it. Eventually we will come up with one that I feel the most comfortable with.

kaween · Jan 22, 2016

I see you've got all your basses covered, and truthfully, I expected no less from you.

Be sure I was not looking to rattle your chain, I was just trying to "think along".

Especially because as you stated earlier, the suit would see "action" in childerens' hospitals ect, and having some "sense of really being there" is really important to avoid accidental knocking over God-knows-what. I'm glad you went with the "in helmet" choice, as the "in suit" would feel very unnatural I think.

BuildsByBaz · Jan 22, 2016

kaween said:
I see you've got all your basses covered, and truthfully, I expected no less from you.

Be sure I was not looking to rattle your chain, I was just trying to "think along".
Especially because as you stated earlier, the suit would see "action" in childerens' hospitals ect, and having some "sense of really being there" is really important to avoid accidental knocking over God-knows-what. I'm glad you went with the "in helmet" choice, as the "in suit" would feel very unnatural I think.

All suggestions and advice are appreciated and taken into serious consideration mate. That's how this community works and why it is such a brilliant place to be!

I thank you sir!

SB

kaween · Jan 22, 2016

I had one question left for the moment. Again, please don't take this the wrong way, I'm just curious.

I was looking at one of your "walk test videos" where you tested the mobility and freedom of the feet/legs ect. (totally impressive how much freedom you seem to have there !)

Anyway, what I did notice is the suit SOUNDS like, with all due respect, a bag of loose bolts.

Now the way I see it, there's two sides to that coin :

1) the sound emphasisis the fact that this is a real steel deal. That alone would be reason enough to keep it like that, as there's no foam/fiber armor in the world that ever could hope to replicate that sound. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised the're pep/foam builders out there breaking their heads about how to create that effect with a non-metal armor.
2) on the other hand, You being an Iron Man fan, I suspect you'd agree Tony would be very worried if his suit would sound like that when walking as the movies have made us believe it's supposed to make a mixed "servo motor with added thumping" kind of sound.

I mean, if this would have been a replica armor from the times of the middleages or some beat-up terminator model, this would be a no-brainer.
With a high-tech Iron Man armor however ...

So are you going to keep the suits' current "soundscape" or would you do things to make the sound less dominant ?

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