This week we did get our hands onto that shelf full of new product that was waiting patiently for its grand appearance here on the front page. Well, the product there wasn't that abandoned and lonely, technically - there's a bunch of stuff there to entertain itself. Like cables can hang out with other cables, […]
Iron Man & Solarbotics at Comic Exp...
Solar botics
June 30, 2016
We often work with people with very interesting projects. This time, it's an impressive Iron Man MkIII costume build, by Phillip Vatour of Calgary.
Phillip had come into our offices one day and said: "You might be interested in seeing what I've been building with the stuff I buy here...". He pulled out his phone and handed over his photo gallery. Flip..."Nice Iron Man gauntlet" ....flip..."Nice Arc reactor" ...flip... "HOLY CRAP - that's a video of a functional visor-flipping helmet!"
We were so impressed by his build, we invited Phillip and his family to the 2016 Calgary Comic Expo as a keynote display at the Solarbotics booth. He'd spend several hours each day, suiting up and posing for photos, while explaining his build. He's one of a handful of builders in the world with such a fully-featured Iron Man costume, so we were very happy to work with him at the show. We were very happy to arrange a photo-op with Stan Lee (creator of the "Iron Man" character), as this was to be Mr. Lee's last Comic Expo appearance. Mr. Lee was apparently quite impressed by the quality of the suit, as were his staff attending the photo op.
What's particularly notable about Phillip's efforts is that he doesn't rent out his time or make paid appearances. He volunteers for the Make-a-Wish foundation and the Calgary Children's Hospital, making appearances as Iron Man for the kids. We were happy to help out by promoting a donation bucket to help Phillip pay for ongoing costume upgrades and maintenance (apparently Iron Man costume molds aren't cheap!).
Phillip designed the costume to have quite an array of features, which are fairly independent of each other. A tech-costume of this complexity can often have some failures, so this design allows the majority of the suit to stay functional if a single element is damaged. Of course, this means there's a multitude of batteries to maintain, and Phillip has a full check-list to cover during suit-up and servicing.
We produced an informational flyer we gave out at the show, available here as a pdf (Ironman Phillip Vautour information sheet).
MORE POSTS
Sumovore 3rd Place at PDXBot!
Just browsing through the results of the last PDXBot in Portland (if you ever get the chance, check it out - it's a quality gig). Anyways, I noticed that the Sumovore "Enterprise" entered by "Azalia Middle School comander" won 3rd place in the Amateur class! Well done!
Holiday Hours
This may come as a bit of a shock to you, but the hands that package your orders actually belong to humans. Sure, we may be a robot company, but robo-hands just aren't quite up to spec for what we need to do. So for the moment we're staffed by a contingent of mortals, and […]
Closed for Labour Day
As you may have guessed, Solarbotics will be closed Monday, September 06 for Labour Day. Enjoy the weather if you're not living in Alberta! We'll continue regular office hours on Tuesday at 0900 MST.
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!
Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.
Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.