Animated TV Head Cosplay

Do you want a unique way to express your emotions without revealing your face? In this project, we made a helmet that resembles an old TV monitor with an LED display that changes expressions based on movement and sound, simulating real interactions!

We would like to give a special shoutout to Minbitt for being the main inspiration for this project, and Mrs. Berbawy's Principles of Engineering class for providing the resources we needed.

This project was created by Jeremy Chen and Aaron Qin.

Materials:

• Machines + Tools:
• 3D printer (Prusa i3 MK3S+, Prusa XL)
• Soldering Iron
• Laser Cutter
• Mounting Adhesive Dots
• Hot Glue Gun
• Epoxy Glue
• Box Cutter
• 64x32 Adafruit LED Matrix, 5mm Pitch
• Adafruit Matrix Portal M4
• Adafruit Electret Microphone Amplifier
• Dark Translucent Acrylic Sheets, 1/8” 
• Mirror Tiles
• Cardboard
• Soft Foam Padding
• USB A to USB C Cable
• Flat Power Bank
• Breakaway Header Pins
• Jumper Wires
• Bike Helmet (optional)

Software:

• Autodesk Fusion 360
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator 
• PrusaSlicer

We started by creating a CAD model of an old-fashioned TV. We used inspiration from this 3D model. Our model consists of a hollow inside, as well as vents on the side for breathability. The front portion was designed to snugly house an acrylic sheet, which served as the screen. Since the human head is rather large compared to the build volumes of typical 3D printers, we needed to divide up the whole model and reassemble it later. While not designed to be printed, we considered the placements within the helmet in our CAD file of periscope-like mirrors, which Minbitt used in their original design in order to see over the opaque LED screen.

We included a slot at the side of our helmet to hold the power bank, which allowed us to run the helmet without being connected to an external power source.

In the process of designing the power bank holder, we learned to leave excess room at the end of the power bank, as it needed to be wired to the rest of the circuit through the electronics case.

Additionally, we designed an electronics case to hold the different circuits of our helmet, including the microphone for our face. A cover is necessary to shield the exposed electronics from the moisture of our breath. We designed the case's covers to slide open to avoid the use of screws or glue, and kept a hole to line up with the microphone.

Next, we 3D printed the electronics case and helmet parts.

Instead of splitting apart the helmet model in Fusion 360, we used the split tools in PrusaSlicer to create custom connectors, which helped us glue everything together without parts slipping and misaligning disastrously. In total, we split the model into 12 parts: 4 medium-sized quadrants of the front housing the screen, and 8 small parts for the middle and back.

The small pieces were printed 2 at a time on the Prusa MK3, while the medium pieces were printed 1 at a time on the Prusa XL. These were all printed with Prusament PLA Galaxy Silver filament, giving it a healthy mix of retro and flair. To reduce weight, we used a 5% gyroid infill, which did not compromise structural integrity since the object was large and robust anyway. We used around 3.5kg of filament for all the prints (including failed prints).

The LED display is powered by the Matrix Portal M4 microcontroller, which connects through both power and signal cables, and is also connected to the Electret Microphone. We soldered the microphone's output, power, and ground terminals to the matrix portal's A1, 3V, and ground pins, respectively. We designed the electronics case to fit the microphone tightly and house cables in a streamlined way, so no rattling or tangles would occur during when wearing the helmet.

After plugging the board to a computer, we copied over the provided files, and made manual edits to adjust the timing of animations as well as the sensitivity of the microphone with our speaking voices as the baseline.

Minbitt provided a template for the faces displayed by voice and movement inputs. Through Adobe Photoshop, we edited and drew our own facial expressions for the helmet to display based on the tilt of the helmet, including a winking expression.

By animating up to 3 frames per tilt, we were able to make the facial expressions feel smooth and lifelike.

To find a suitable acrylic screen, we looked at how the LEDs would appear behind the various colors. Dark Smoke ended up being perfect since it concealed the unlit LEDs but allowed the lit LEDs to shine through clearly. We used Adobe Illustrator to make a basic rectangle consistent with the CAD model. The ratio of the screen was 4:3, in line with actual past CRT monitors. Any size does work, so long as it is consistent with the 3D design and is larger than the LED screen (318mm x 158mm). We used a Universal Laser Systems laser cutter to cut the 1/8" panel and wrapped it in plastic to protect it before assembly.

After all components were done printing/cutting, we glued parts together using 2-part epoxy. A thin layer applied with popsicle sticks and toothpicks worked well for us. We first completed each half separately, clamping each set of prints for about a day, but an hour is all that's required. After that, we taped in the mirror panels, made from cardboard strips and mirror tiles, onto one side, and superglued the electronics case with the mic facing the user's mouth. To test the effectiveness of the mirrors, we clamped the two halves together without gluing them and wore the helmet. After some adjustments, we determined the final location and angle of the panels, which we hot glued in after we glued the two halves together.

We used the mounting dots to secure the LED screen with the acrylic panel, making sure to place it so the wires could reach from the case; we also stuck the power bank, which connects directly to the matrix portal board, onto the back of the helmet using the mounting dots. The USB-C cable connecting the power bank to the matrix portal board ended up being too long where it was hanging out of the helmet, so we zip-tied it into a smaller bundle.

We superglued foam padding to the top to reduce the unpleasant likelihood of the helmet putting a dent in the user's skull. Originally, we wanted to follow Minbitt's idea of gluing a bike helmet into the monitor, but for our design, a full helmet would not fit inside, so we just opted for foam. We used a box cutter to cut slits in the middle of each pad to allow it to bend easier and bond with the print better. Finally, we slid in the screen and glued both halves together.

Warning: Leave enough space to walk around and always have a buddy to guide you!

Finally, show off your epic TV head cosplay!