The T60 power armor
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 9:12 pm
A short first installment into what I have been doing the a lot for the past 3 months. I have been saying I am busy quite a lot on this forum, with other projects (HP45 hacking, Tesseract) running at snails pace. This is what I have been working on. I reveal:
The T60 power armor from Fallout 4.
For those unaware what a power armor is. It is basically a full exosuit that you ride more than wear. It is resistant to radiation, it is basically a walking tank, and it is awesome. The best thing is that it automatically opens, you can step in, and it closes. See the video enclosed below.
https://youtu.be/cA5OFSjodH4?t=3m8s
Now I will not make it armor plated, I will not make it radiation resistant, and I will not make it enhance my strength. If I had those capabilities, I would not be making props, I would be Iron Man. I will however, make it fully open and close, fully automatic. The suit will open, I can step in, and the suit can close, and locks all the panels around me. Then I move.
The build consists of 2 parts. First the under frame will be built. This holds all motion, joint lockers, panel movers and gives the power armor rigidity. Then the aesthetic outer shell will be made. All this layer does is look like a power armor. This way I can also change the power armor to a different model (there are 6 models, and dozens of paint jobs).
Frame and joint lockers
The power armor needs to be able to stand on its own when not in use. This is done using a frame and the joint lockers. The frame will be made of aluminium, 3D printed parts, poplar plywood and whatever is required to make this project work. The joint lockers create a rigid connection between the joints. For the knees, this is done by simply locking a single axis joint. With more complicated joints, locking pins are used. Locking pins are pins that slide in bushings, locking that joint in all degrees of freedom except for up. The joint locking has almost no backup systems. I tried, it cost me 2 months of design to get nowhere.
Panel movers and panel lockers
The panel movers open and close the panels on the back. There are about a dozen mechanisms in this category. The panel lockers are the mechanisms that actually have strength. They will lock the panels and tighten them around me. The panel movers have the freedom to move out of the way when not in use, and they are all hobby servo motors (they can be overpowered by hand). The panel lockers have a full mechanical backup. By pulling a few emergency releases, I can completely get out of the power armor. I do not want to get stuck in this thing.
The outer shell is still undecided, but will probably be made with 3D printed parts, vacu formed parts, and foam parts. I first want to get the frame designed.
The total weight I will try and keep below 20kg. It will be made for me, but I will share the design and source files for anyone crazy enough to duplicate this (if it is actually going to work).
This is what I have spent a lot of time on the past 3 months. It has been in and out of concept stage for a few times now. Currently it is in what I call SPA phase. It stands for Single Part Assembly and it means that all parts are designed in big blocks. The design still needs to be converted for assembly, but this way I can design without some of the limitations in Solidworks. This way I have progresses more in the past 2 weeks than I have in the past 2 months.
Design phase is expected to end in 2-3 months.
Frame complete phase is expected in 6-8 months.
Project deadline is March 2017.
And I want a Minigun or Gauss rifle to go with the armor, but one thing at a time.
The T60 power armor from Fallout 4.
For those unaware what a power armor is. It is basically a full exosuit that you ride more than wear. It is resistant to radiation, it is basically a walking tank, and it is awesome. The best thing is that it automatically opens, you can step in, and it closes. See the video enclosed below.
https://youtu.be/cA5OFSjodH4?t=3m8s
Now I will not make it armor plated, I will not make it radiation resistant, and I will not make it enhance my strength. If I had those capabilities, I would not be making props, I would be Iron Man. I will however, make it fully open and close, fully automatic. The suit will open, I can step in, and the suit can close, and locks all the panels around me. Then I move.
The build consists of 2 parts. First the under frame will be built. This holds all motion, joint lockers, panel movers and gives the power armor rigidity. Then the aesthetic outer shell will be made. All this layer does is look like a power armor. This way I can also change the power armor to a different model (there are 6 models, and dozens of paint jobs).
Frame and joint lockers
The power armor needs to be able to stand on its own when not in use. This is done using a frame and the joint lockers. The frame will be made of aluminium, 3D printed parts, poplar plywood and whatever is required to make this project work. The joint lockers create a rigid connection between the joints. For the knees, this is done by simply locking a single axis joint. With more complicated joints, locking pins are used. Locking pins are pins that slide in bushings, locking that joint in all degrees of freedom except for up. The joint locking has almost no backup systems. I tried, it cost me 2 months of design to get nowhere.
Panel movers and panel lockers
The panel movers open and close the panels on the back. There are about a dozen mechanisms in this category. The panel lockers are the mechanisms that actually have strength. They will lock the panels and tighten them around me. The panel movers have the freedom to move out of the way when not in use, and they are all hobby servo motors (they can be overpowered by hand). The panel lockers have a full mechanical backup. By pulling a few emergency releases, I can completely get out of the power armor. I do not want to get stuck in this thing.
The outer shell is still undecided, but will probably be made with 3D printed parts, vacu formed parts, and foam parts. I first want to get the frame designed.
The total weight I will try and keep below 20kg. It will be made for me, but I will share the design and source files for anyone crazy enough to duplicate this (if it is actually going to work).
This is what I have spent a lot of time on the past 3 months. It has been in and out of concept stage for a few times now. Currently it is in what I call SPA phase. It stands for Single Part Assembly and it means that all parts are designed in big blocks. The design still needs to be converted for assembly, but this way I can design without some of the limitations in Solidworks. This way I have progresses more in the past 2 weeks than I have in the past 2 months.
Design phase is expected to end in 2-3 months.
Frame complete phase is expected in 6-8 months.
Project deadline is March 2017.
And I want a Minigun or Gauss rifle to go with the armor, but one thing at a time.