Claws61821
New Member
I stumbled across the 405th a couple years back when I was thinking about donning a Mjolnir suit for Halloween and had no knowledge of how to make or where to buy one (at least, one that wasn't paper-thin plastic in the latter case; ironically, the local costume shop where I was living at the time got one in for display a week after that Halloween with a ~$1000 tag). Since that time, I have occasionally spent a few hours at a time browsing these forums, searching other websites and generally researching and brainstorming ideas for how to make a sci-fi-inspired armor-suit and what gear to equip within it, with the general intention of having fun and perhaps marketing the final product or its components.
At this point, it should probably be noted that I am rather terrible at structured research, note-taking and generally focusing on anything except what I may be interested in reading, playing or discussing at any given moment. It should also be noted that the most important of what notes I did have got lost out of my computer/messenger bag when I moved states a few months back (how? Wish I knew).
As seems to be the norm, I've largely been targeting the security sectors and costumer markets in my mental conceptualizing, although off-road racers (specifically 4x4ATV racers) and motorcyclists have also been locked within my imagined sights, as it were.
For the sake of simplicity and tribute, I plan to model the prototype suit (i.e. the Proof of Concept) after the Mjolnir Mk. V and VI. The actual outfit itself will consist of a breathable undersuit, a flexible suit of internal soft armor, a modular external hardsuit and the obligatory helmet.
The undersuit is to be skintight with soft circuits as ECG and EMG leads. It may also include a hood with EEG leads which will also help prevent hair from snagging in the helmet.
The first layer of armor will consist of a rubbery material or a fibrous material such as M5. Which material is used will depend on whether the suit is the prototype or a marketed version and on whether it needs to be airtight for chemical defense purposes. It will also contain the body-cooling system once the method is decided and may contain magnets for attaching the hardsuit and circuitry for some of the gear.
The outer layer of the armor will be hardened fibers, magnets (for weapons storage, etc.) and circuitry. It will contain the main power supply and may contain a computer.
The helmet will be of the same material as the hardsuit (or as DOT helmets, if it can be managed). It will contain a separate cooling and air filtration system, a communications suite, a radar system or suite, lights, a computer, an HMD (set ~3+ in. from face, in shield), a secondary power supply (possibly) and 3+ ext. data ports (1 fiber-optic scope/camera, 1+ transfer port, 1+ storage port). Current design resembles a modular motorcycle helmet.
--
The face shield will be double-, perhaps triple-layered, with the outermost layer following the production tutorial drawn up by Redshirt. The additional layer(s) will be to provide photocromic eye-protection and a surface upon which to mount the LCD-film for the HMD.
The RADAR suite will have 2+ omni-directional antennae for a FM-CW system with, elevation, ground-penetration and motion tracking and will connect to the comms. for networking with identical units and FoF tagging.
The communications suite will have encrypted 802.11x MIMO for FoF tagging, RADAR networking and video and data communication - audio (radio) may be by the same system or a separate one. Two cameras will provide an external view for recording and communication and an internal view for squad communication. Two internally-placed noise-cancelling speakers will provide protection against sonic assault while leaving the wearer capable of hearing environmental noise and conversing with noncombatants and unarmored combatants; an internal microphone and external speaker networked to the internal speakers will enable clear projection of the wearer's voice to aforementioned individuals. The internal speakers and microphone will also be used in radio communication and a window on the HMD will display video during communication when available.
The fiber-optic scope will contain a camera at the end of a posable length of tube. The other end may connect to an external dataport in the helmet and the image will be displayed in the HMD.
Another camera, with a pressure toggle for activation, will provide a digital near-real-time image of a distant target to the HMD across the circuitry within the armor. SLR or other beam-splitting technology will allow traditional use of the scope without requiring the removal of the camera. This system will be separate from the aforementioned scope-link dataport.
The cooling system in the helmet will consist of 5-9 small computer fans (or similar) and a similar quantity of respirator filters.
The computer in the helmet will control all of the above systems and the cooling system in the main armor. It will also read the signals from the medical leads and stream the data to the HMD and to a file. This file will be finalized at the end of ten minutes and automatically streamed to Base, unless wearer is Running Silent or no base is available, and a new file will be created. Data from all input sources will stream first to the computer for processing, then to HMD and/or file and/or output device. Embedded flash memory will be physically mounted to the main board for storage and operation.
----
Obviously, whether I'm going to actually market it as has been 'strongly suggested' to me whenever I've mentioned the topic or merely keep it around as a novelty, it first needs to be constructed. Unfortunately, much of the technology is either unavailable in man-worn (or even man-portable) form or must be otherwise reconfigured to fit the spatial constraints. Much of the remaining technology had construction and configuration resources online in the late '90s and early 2000s that have since become improbable to locate or nearly so. As a result, most of this project will likely require engineering expertise which I most certainly lack, although I am open to some alternative suggestion and can eventually approach engineers of my own prior acquaintance for assistance when their workloads lessen.
----
"BLARGH!"
Translation: Deathly Wall of Text
"Thanks, Sheila!"
At this point, it should probably be noted that I am rather terrible at structured research, note-taking and generally focusing on anything except what I may be interested in reading, playing or discussing at any given moment. It should also be noted that the most important of what notes I did have got lost out of my computer/messenger bag when I moved states a few months back (how? Wish I knew).
As seems to be the norm, I've largely been targeting the security sectors and costumer markets in my mental conceptualizing, although off-road racers (specifically 4x4ATV racers) and motorcyclists have also been locked within my imagined sights, as it were.
For the sake of simplicity and tribute, I plan to model the prototype suit (i.e. the Proof of Concept) after the Mjolnir Mk. V and VI. The actual outfit itself will consist of a breathable undersuit, a flexible suit of internal soft armor, a modular external hardsuit and the obligatory helmet.
The undersuit is to be skintight with soft circuits as ECG and EMG leads. It may also include a hood with EEG leads which will also help prevent hair from snagging in the helmet.
The first layer of armor will consist of a rubbery material or a fibrous material such as M5. Which material is used will depend on whether the suit is the prototype or a marketed version and on whether it needs to be airtight for chemical defense purposes. It will also contain the body-cooling system once the method is decided and may contain magnets for attaching the hardsuit and circuitry for some of the gear.
The outer layer of the armor will be hardened fibers, magnets (for weapons storage, etc.) and circuitry. It will contain the main power supply and may contain a computer.
The helmet will be of the same material as the hardsuit (or as DOT helmets, if it can be managed). It will contain a separate cooling and air filtration system, a communications suite, a radar system or suite, lights, a computer, an HMD (set ~3+ in. from face, in shield), a secondary power supply (possibly) and 3+ ext. data ports (1 fiber-optic scope/camera, 1+ transfer port, 1+ storage port). Current design resembles a modular motorcycle helmet.
--
The face shield will be double-, perhaps triple-layered, with the outermost layer following the production tutorial drawn up by Redshirt. The additional layer(s) will be to provide photocromic eye-protection and a surface upon which to mount the LCD-film for the HMD.
The RADAR suite will have 2+ omni-directional antennae for a FM-CW system with, elevation, ground-penetration and motion tracking and will connect to the comms. for networking with identical units and FoF tagging.
The communications suite will have encrypted 802.11x MIMO for FoF tagging, RADAR networking and video and data communication - audio (radio) may be by the same system or a separate one. Two cameras will provide an external view for recording and communication and an internal view for squad communication. Two internally-placed noise-cancelling speakers will provide protection against sonic assault while leaving the wearer capable of hearing environmental noise and conversing with noncombatants and unarmored combatants; an internal microphone and external speaker networked to the internal speakers will enable clear projection of the wearer's voice to aforementioned individuals. The internal speakers and microphone will also be used in radio communication and a window on the HMD will display video during communication when available.
The fiber-optic scope will contain a camera at the end of a posable length of tube. The other end may connect to an external dataport in the helmet and the image will be displayed in the HMD.
Another camera, with a pressure toggle for activation, will provide a digital near-real-time image of a distant target to the HMD across the circuitry within the armor. SLR or other beam-splitting technology will allow traditional use of the scope without requiring the removal of the camera. This system will be separate from the aforementioned scope-link dataport.
The cooling system in the helmet will consist of 5-9 small computer fans (or similar) and a similar quantity of respirator filters.
The computer in the helmet will control all of the above systems and the cooling system in the main armor. It will also read the signals from the medical leads and stream the data to the HMD and to a file. This file will be finalized at the end of ten minutes and automatically streamed to Base, unless wearer is Running Silent or no base is available, and a new file will be created. Data from all input sources will stream first to the computer for processing, then to HMD and/or file and/or output device. Embedded flash memory will be physically mounted to the main board for storage and operation.
----
Obviously, whether I'm going to actually market it as has been 'strongly suggested' to me whenever I've mentioned the topic or merely keep it around as a novelty, it first needs to be constructed. Unfortunately, much of the technology is either unavailable in man-worn (or even man-portable) form or must be otherwise reconfigured to fit the spatial constraints. Much of the remaining technology had construction and configuration resources online in the late '90s and early 2000s that have since become improbable to locate or nearly so. As a result, most of this project will likely require engineering expertise which I most certainly lack, although I am open to some alternative suggestion and can eventually approach engineers of my own prior acquaintance for assistance when their workloads lessen.
----
"BLARGH!"
Translation: Deathly Wall of Text
"Thanks, Sheila!"