The classic halo armor looks cool and all as a costume, but I have a few problems with it.
One of the things I don't like about the regular in game halo armor is that it was designed to look good with low polygon count, aka blocky armor. Now that video game hardware has advanced, it still has the same shape, they simply add all kinds of lines and indents and gadgets all over the surface to add detail.
I personally like the look of the halo concept art drawing by Shi Kai Wang, like on the sketch below, Its a lot more like what you would expect real armor to look like, there are no massive gaps in the plate, the features are smooth, which would increase round deflection, reduce visibility, and prevent getting snagged up on things.
While with tanks, faceted surfaces work great for round deflection since there are very few directions tanks get shot from, on the halo armor, the facets are arranged in such a way that the wearer is presenting surfaces perpendicular to the direction of incoming fire. Statistically a curved surface is going to be more effective at deflecting rounds from all directions.
Flat facets also catch the light and produce unusual light patterns that you would not see in nature, along with having way too many straight lines. The natural curves give gentle gradients for shadows and blend in better with natural surroundings, and the lack of straight lines will also reduce visibility.
Another thing is a smooth curve isn't going to snag up on things like all the bulky faceted extrusions coming off the classic halo armor. The armor suit I'd like to make would be something like below, with even less detail than the halo concept, nothing that doesn't have an actual use.
I'd like to put together a little group of people who are experienced modelers, and builders, who'd like to participate in the following project, I'd like to be able to have a few working prototypes that will be taken to the Burning Man festival in august and demonstrated in the harsh conditions there.
The suit wont be ballistic resistant like real armor but I'd like to demonstrate a bunch of advanced concepts that you'd expect to see in an advanced armor suit.
Suit Initial Design criteria:
Primarily made from light weight advanced composites
Fully articulated with high mobility
Near 100% plate coverage
Armor must act as a load bearing exoskeleton
Armor will be painted with an advanced digital camo pattern using thermal color change paints. (cold = night colors hot = day or winter / summer) Maybe light reactive pigments, so that the suit naturally neutralizes shadows and highlights from light.
Air tight with air circulation climate control system w/ removal of perspiration.
Insulated for extreme hot and cold conditions.
Some long term feature goals:
Built in high capacity rechargeable battery packs, solar recharge stations for 'base camp'
On board solar for indefinite critical systems run time
Visor with built in HUD
Low noise amplification / high noise reduction earmuff technology combined with 5.1 speaker technology for enhanced awareness
Parabolic audio amplifier built into helmet for long distance eavesdropping.
For demonstration at burning man I'd probably make something that looks like a space cruiser ejection pod covered in solar panels for sleeping in, that can be set up to look like it just crash landed in the desert.
Various stages of the project would also be filmed in HD with the goal of putting together a 1-2 hr you tube documentary.
So what do you think?
Things I dont want to hear about:
1) Man thats gonna cost way too much money, why would you spend so much on a costume.
If it actually has real world functionality its not a costume. Making costumes does not manifest future technology into reality.
2) That sounds way too ambitious, why don't you start off with some cardboard armor newbie.
I may be new to this forum, but I am by no means a noob when it comes to building complicated systems and equipment, and I have numerous resources at my disposal.
3) You cant post that here.
Actually seeing as I only have posting permissions in the noob section, I cant really post it anywhere else now can I.
One of the things I don't like about the regular in game halo armor is that it was designed to look good with low polygon count, aka blocky armor. Now that video game hardware has advanced, it still has the same shape, they simply add all kinds of lines and indents and gadgets all over the surface to add detail.
I personally like the look of the halo concept art drawing by Shi Kai Wang, like on the sketch below, Its a lot more like what you would expect real armor to look like, there are no massive gaps in the plate, the features are smooth, which would increase round deflection, reduce visibility, and prevent getting snagged up on things.
While with tanks, faceted surfaces work great for round deflection since there are very few directions tanks get shot from, on the halo armor, the facets are arranged in such a way that the wearer is presenting surfaces perpendicular to the direction of incoming fire. Statistically a curved surface is going to be more effective at deflecting rounds from all directions.
Flat facets also catch the light and produce unusual light patterns that you would not see in nature, along with having way too many straight lines. The natural curves give gentle gradients for shadows and blend in better with natural surroundings, and the lack of straight lines will also reduce visibility.
Another thing is a smooth curve isn't going to snag up on things like all the bulky faceted extrusions coming off the classic halo armor. The armor suit I'd like to make would be something like below, with even less detail than the halo concept, nothing that doesn't have an actual use.
I'd like to put together a little group of people who are experienced modelers, and builders, who'd like to participate in the following project, I'd like to be able to have a few working prototypes that will be taken to the Burning Man festival in august and demonstrated in the harsh conditions there.
The suit wont be ballistic resistant like real armor but I'd like to demonstrate a bunch of advanced concepts that you'd expect to see in an advanced armor suit.
Suit Initial Design criteria:
Primarily made from light weight advanced composites
Fully articulated with high mobility
Near 100% plate coverage
Armor must act as a load bearing exoskeleton
Armor will be painted with an advanced digital camo pattern using thermal color change paints. (cold = night colors hot = day or winter / summer) Maybe light reactive pigments, so that the suit naturally neutralizes shadows and highlights from light.
Air tight with air circulation climate control system w/ removal of perspiration.
Insulated for extreme hot and cold conditions.
Some long term feature goals:
Built in high capacity rechargeable battery packs, solar recharge stations for 'base camp'
On board solar for indefinite critical systems run time
Visor with built in HUD
Low noise amplification / high noise reduction earmuff technology combined with 5.1 speaker technology for enhanced awareness
Parabolic audio amplifier built into helmet for long distance eavesdropping.
For demonstration at burning man I'd probably make something that looks like a space cruiser ejection pod covered in solar panels for sleeping in, that can be set up to look like it just crash landed in the desert.
Various stages of the project would also be filmed in HD with the goal of putting together a 1-2 hr you tube documentary.
So what do you think?
Things I dont want to hear about:
1) Man thats gonna cost way too much money, why would you spend so much on a costume.
If it actually has real world functionality its not a costume. Making costumes does not manifest future technology into reality.
2) That sounds way too ambitious, why don't you start off with some cardboard armor newbie.
I may be new to this forum, but I am by no means a noob when it comes to building complicated systems and equipment, and I have numerous resources at my disposal.
3) You cant post that here.
Actually seeing as I only have posting permissions in the noob section, I cant really post it anywhere else now can I.
