When it comes to creating props from science fiction movies and replicating high-tech gear, many DIY enthusiasts choose their favorite circuit boards to achieve this goal.
The project to be introduced today is just such an example, created by the well-known maker and developer Grimdaria. He meticulously crafted a T-45 power armor helmet from the “Fallout” series of games using the popular microcontroller – Raspberry Pi Pico. We believe that even members of the Brotherhood of Steel would praise this work.
This project was originally designed for Grimdaria’s son’s Halloween costume and has been adjusted to fit a child’s head size. Nevertheless, there is still enough space inside the helmet to accommodate various electronic devices and functions, allowing his son to monitor and even operate it personally. The helmet is equipped with LED lights, a temperature sensor, and even a screen.
Since this large helmet may affect the reception of external sounds, Grimdaria cleverly added a microphone. This way, his son can listen to external sounds through headphones. The internal screen of the helmet is an OLED display, capable of clearly showing various information about the hardware, such as temperature, headphone volume, and the on/off status of lights and fans.
The main control board is the Raspberry Pi Pico, which connects to a 12-LED NeoPixel ring responsible for controlling the main lights of the helmet, along with some buttons, a potentiometer for adjusting brightness and volume, and a series of fans, temperature sensors, and the OLED screen.
You might be curious about how practical the OLED screen inside the helmet is. It turns out that it performed very well during three hours of trick-or-treating, without any complaints. Grimdaria positioned the screen at the nose of the helmet, as far away from the eyes as possible to minimize interference. The screen has a resolution of 128 x 64 pixels, primarily in blue and yellow colors.
This is one of the coolest “Fallout” themed projects we have seen, especially considering it was made for an unforgettable Halloween experience.