Solarbotics at Calgary Comic Expo 2013

Solar botics
April 30, 2013

Whelp, many moons have passed since we posted last time (er, maybe that's a slight exaggeration), and many a thing have happened. We went to Las Vegas to the Magento conference, lasered some ukuleles, but mostly were in a mad rush preparing for the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo 2013. We teamed up with a wonderful costume designer and artist Angela Dale to produce wearable pieces that merge electronics and costume design.

Here's the first example - joint effort of Graeme Janzen, Angela Dale and Solarbotics. Custom Fosshape molded helmet is fitted perfectly to the wearer, and 3 layers of lasercut acrylic are edge-lit with 24 high-power white LEDs:
  
Our Voltron Helmet is based on the Black Lion toy design from Defender of the Universe, a popular cartoon in the mid eighties. Voltron consisted of 5 robot lions that joined together to form a Giant Robot that protected the galaxy from evil doers. The Black Lion in particular is special because it formed the head and torso of the combined Robot Voltron. Since the head had two different modes: Robot and Lion, it was intriguing to try to emulate the two modes as best as we could.

We used an Ardweeny, Multipack, TTLy FTDI, 2 Star Controllers, and 2 HXT900 servos to animate our replica and make it come alive with a few electronic bits. Special thanks to Angela Dale and Robyn Ayles (props designer and full-time faculty at the Mount Royal theater program) for their assistance!

This Chameleon Cocktail Ensemble was created by Angela and her assistants as a part of MakeFashion project. It uses 20 meter of addressable LED strips (add 5 meters in the headdress) powered by 3.7V LiPoly batteries, and ArduinoPro Mini to control the lighting sequences.

 
We also hosted the Arduino workshop at the Expo, with a slight costuming application bend and many blinky lights...
  
..and did lots of people watching.

Check out our Flickr photostream for details on more projects and photos!

MORE POSTS

August 3, 2018
Closed on Monday August 6th

That's it. We've had enough. The weather is just too darn nice outside. So nice, in fact, that we quit. That's right, when Monday rolls around no one is even going to bother coming into the office. You heard us - we'll be closed on Monday, August the 6th. Go ahead and email and leave […]

September 18, 2009
BlinkM, LilyPad, SparkFun

A SparkFun PCB, three BlinkM LEDs, three LilyPads and a PICAXE USB Programmer walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and asks, "What is this, a newspost?" The answer to that question would be YES! Chekkit oot: SparkFun Ardubot Bare PCB BlinkM Smart LED BlinkM MaxM Ultrabright Smart LED BlinkM RGB Blaster LilyPad Temperature […]

April 24, 2019
We will be at the Calgary Comic Expo!

The Calgary Comic Expo starts this week! If you have not bought your tickets yet, you can do so by clicking here.   Keep updated on our Facebook and Instagram for live streams and media coverage of the event! Our booth is #1113.

June 28, 2010
Canada Day - Closed July 1st & 2nd

This just in - our country is awesome. Now, we all know what you're thinking. "Yeah? Well my country is awesome too, and yours didn't even make it to the World Cup!" We certainly can't argue that your country is awesome as well. As for the World Cup... You wanna know what we think of […]

Solarbotics Ltd Logo
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.

Copyright © 2024 Solarbotics Ltd. All Rights Reserved
cart