Back to the future mind reading helmet

grabcad

Here is my Doc Brown's mind reading helmet from 'Back to the future'. I absolutely adore this film and I could find a plethora of props for 3D printing but not this helmet, so here it is.I'm not going to deceive you, it's an extremely challenging project, but for a die-hard geek and movie fan like me it was utterly worth it. On the 3D model all parts fit together seamlessly, but it's quite difficult to assemble all the components symmetrically exactly as in the model, so I had to utilize my trusty old hair dryer technique for a few of the connectors. (For those who are new to 3D printing, you can use a hair dryer to warm up the plastic part and then reshape it slightly).One of the pictures is color coded and the colors correspond to the file names so it should make assembly much easier. The main coils can be screwed onto the headband and I glued all the connectors between cylinders. I glued them in this order: blue, yellow, pink, red and green.(3 red connectors required the hair dryer technique, but you might do better than me)There is also a file perspex_tube.stl and you can print it in clear PLA or use a clear perspex tube. I purchased 10mm (outside diameter) long tubes and then cut them into 90mm long cylinders. I think it looks slightly better with clear perspex, but of course it's more work.On the main coils I wound a few turns of grey cable and glued it permanently. On the clear perspex I wound a few turns or single core red wire and glued it too.the order of assembly: main coil (with grey cable) then glue 10mm perspex tube inside, then slot clear_cylinder (printer in clear PLA). The clear cylinder will go inside inside_cylinder and all that will go into outside_cylinder. All connectors are glued to outside_cylinder.Electronics: I soldered 220 ohm resistors to the positive leg of a 5mm white LED (protective resistor) and then soldered cables to both legs of the LED. I inserted the LED into perspex tube and tidied up wires using clear cable ties. I connected everything to an Arduino Nano and a 9V battery. All will fit inside the Arduino_box and you can then clip it to your belt. There is a hole for a mini on/off rocker switch. A schematic for connection is attached and arduino code too. The code randomly switches LED's and it's my addition to the project :)It's an enormous project, but if you decide to go ahead and make I would greatly appreciate pictures and any comments or suggestions of course.