Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Resolution, Parallax, Details, Details…
Understand that this is not a perfect effect. Though it's going to look awesome in
a still photo in the right pose, someone standing close to you will clearly see that
this is a screen. A tiny TFT LCD has pretty good resolution, but few screens (es-
pecially any you can afford to embed in a costume) have lifelike resolution. On top
of that, there's the matter of
parallax
. Imagine a hole in a wall. (OK, we often call
those “windows,” but we're talking armor here, so imagine you just blasted a hole
in the wall with your massive fictional weapon that goes “pew pew pew.”) As you
walk past the window or stand and sit in front of it, what you see changes. What a
viewer sees through your chest screen will change only when you or the back-
ground move.
For this project, you'll need a TFT like the one in
Hack #57
(or other small screen), a
Raspberry Pi camera, and your armor-building (a.k.a. foam-destroying) tools. If you
get this far in the project, you'll have discovered that it's a lot easier to cut the foam,
particularly the thick kind, with a hot knife. You can get kits that include a hot blade,
such as a woodburning or leatherworking kit. Most appropriate to the projects in this
topic is a soldering iron/hot knife combination (such as the X-Acto X73780), so if
you're embarking on this project and don't have a soldering iron yet, that's the way to
go.
The first step is to choose a location for your faux wound. You don't have to make this
look like a chest wound, despite the hack title. (Although if you're going to be severely
injured and freakishly survive, why not?) Just choose the best location that suits your
character and story. The technological factor that may influence your choice is the
shape and size of your armor pieces and where you can (a) hide the Pi and camera
and (b) have cables long enough to reach both such that the camera is roughly op-
posite the screen.
When you're handling the camera, be sure not to scratch the lens, crease the cable,
or bend the pins that connect the camera to the board.
Lay out your armor and estimate the locations of each component so that you can
figure out how long your cables will need to be. Consider various possibilities regarding
where you can hide the three pieces and their wiring. Remember, you'll also need to
power the Pi with a portable battery pack (see
Hack #18
).
The Pi camera comes with a 150 mm (~6”) cable, which isn't very long, and the cable
itself is a bit fragile. Likewise, the TFT screen comes with a short cable, and its ribbon
connection to its board is also fragile. When you finalize a place for all of these com-
ponents, be sure to secure them well and make sure they're not going to snag on other
parts of your costume when you're moving around or taking it on and off.
