This week: Blizzards. Ice. Snow drifts. Rather sunny and warm. Wait, what? Yup, we've seen it all this week folks. All that's left is for delicious pastries to start falling from the skies, and we can check off the last item on our home-made "meteorological phenomena" list. And boy, you have no idea how long […]
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
Phones are Up
Well, we've found the ringleaders in this little impromptu telecommunications insurrection and took them out back, where we switched from our standard 'beat with a metaphorical hammer' to 'beat with an real hammer'. Which worked so well, actually, that our phones are now back up and behaving themselves. We can now take calls without any […]
Solarbotics at Calgary Expo Holiday Mark...
If you are in Calgary & area this weekend, come see us at BMO Centre Expo Holiday Market. On November 25 & 26, 2017 we are going to be at booth 1314 with our new and all-time favorite gadgets. The hours of the show are: Saturday 10-6, Sunday 10-5.
Sherline Price Increase
We've just got our official notification and new price list from Sherline. Implementation date is October 1st, so if you've been on-the-fence thinking about getting a Sherline machine to build your own custom parts, now's the time to do it! After October 1, Sherline parts and accessories are expected to see a 5-30% price increase. […]
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.