#4900097
I completely missed that you used single NeoPixels for the SH pack. 16, for some reason I was thinking 8.
Kind of backed myself into a corner here though. Not any place in the US to get these things at a good price.
Not enough time to order from China.

Best I can find to get here in time is $4.45 each, twice what it would cost from the source you listed.
Well, guess if I'm going to do it, I might as well do it right.
#4900101
I took the pack apart over lunch to try and figure out what was going on with the sound. The volume was really low. Turns out the left channel on the amp is dead. I'm assuming it's been like this and I just didn't realize it. Amazon is shipping a new one but I have to desolder this one which will be a pain.

One little mod I made while I was in there was to drill some speaker holes under the bumper in the face of the cyclotron. I put the functional speaker in that spot so it's shooting out the back now. It's so much louder especially with the pack on. Should be even better once I have the second speaker working. You can't even see the speaker holes unless you go looking for them so that's a plus.
#4900102
I also added the un-mirrored files to github.

https://github.com/CountDeMonet/Arduino ... rcent_Pack

Not sure how useful they would be to anyone though as they are really specific to my case. It could be scaled up but some of the connections would need to be resized. Unless I decide to make a full sized pack I'm not planning on making those mods. Right now I'm pretty happy with this pack and the spirit one for what I need.
#4900162
is work ever truly finished on a project like this? I showed off the pack to one of our area maker clubs tonight and it got a lot of great comments. There was one thing that stood out to me though. A young boy tried the pack on but mentioned after about 3 or 4 minutes that his back was hurting. My son had mentioned the same thing on saturday. Now my back is much larger than a 6-7 year olds so I'm not feeling any problem but this is 2 kids now mention it. I've been studying the alice frame and I'm starting to realize why the kidney pad is pushed out like it is. It keeps the side bars from digging into the middle of your back. There is no easy way to retrofit something like that on the pack using PVC fittings so I've decided to see if I can't 3d print some mounts to push out a PVC pipe about an inch from the lower back so I can add more padding around it and get those side bars farther away. It's a good thing I made the mount standoffs long on one end and short on the other. If I flip them you likely won't see the pack sit much different from where it is today.

My son was a real trooper on Saturday. If it was digging in like I think it was I gotta fix this for him. I don't want it to be uncomfortable.
#4900164
Nope, not until you sell it or retire it.
Yeah, first thing I noticed when I lined up the PVC frame on my back was that the the pressure was right near my shoulder blades.
For a light pack like the SH it won't be a problem, worst case I just add some foam there.

There are 45 degree joints in the plumbing section that might work, I though about using them but decided against it since I was planing on attaching it to the pack with the strap.
If you are attaching the thing properly then there's no reason you can't use the 45 degree joints, they are a bit more than what the real pack has, 40deg I think, but close enough.

Another option would be these weird pipes I saw, they were like normal pipes but had a weird offset bend to them.
Which, after a googling reveals that's exactly what they are, A PVC Offset.
Looks like the larger versions have a different design that might not work as well though.
https://www.menards.com/main/electrical ... 331&ipos=1
https://www.menards.com/main/electrical ... 331&ipos=6
It wouldn't be a huge space but it might be just enough to bring the neck and lower back support out and relieve the pressure elsewhere.
#4900171
I looked at the 45's as I have a bunch of them but for this size pack that would be way too far out for the kidney rest. I'm 3D printing some mounts that should be able to slide onto the existing 2 pieces of PVC and support a third that can be covered in soft foam. We'll see how it works out. I printed the first prototype and it feels plenty strong for a backrest and the weight I'm dealing with.
#4900176
I could be wrong, but I don't think that will fix the issue.
If you look at a proper frame it has the Kidney Pad extended from the frame but it also has the neck rest extended from the frame, via the bend.
I think to relieve the pressure you'll need both as well.

If the 45deg is too much, like I said there's the offset. Baring that...maybe a crossbar similar to the lower back support?
You could also make a 2nd "top bend" and then bolt that to the frame, giving a 2nd layer to just the bend, where it should be angled. Not sure how well that would work though.
Another alternative could be.. like a pillow, little pillow where the neck meets the frame, might be enough.
#4900178
yeah I'm looking for options to solve the top part now. The bottom part looks to be good. The bar needs to be up closer to the top of the back so I may need to switch back to the 90 degree bends and do a similar setup to the bottom. I wish I could use those offset pieces but I don't think they would fix this issue. Glad I found out about this before he's walking around for hours on halloween. I gotta figure it out today so I can get it painted
#4900179
This is what I ended up doing.
https://imgur.com/a/G7icn
Not as sophisticated as your 3d printed solution but it achieved basically the same thing.
Actually, I need to stick the thing together, paint should be well set by now...and gotta find the black shoe laces I have laying around.
With your printer you could always print an elbow with an appropriate bend, or even an offset type piece.

Oh hey, you know what would work well, a neck brace of sorts. Something that would attach to the top of your frame, the larger Pipe piece and then, I'll just throw something together in paint. Please excuse the horrible example.
Image
Basically that, you could use some double sided tape or glue and cut a section of foam from the same pipe foam.
The pipe could also be set inside the bracket for a more seamless look. I set it off from the brace to make it more clear how it would connect but now that I think about it using a longer bolt glued to the pipe would allow you to screw/unscrew the brace to adjust the fit.
#4900201
So this is what I was able to come up with. The top part can slide over the top coupler for the conduit and has a set screw to keep it in place. This allows me to adjust where the foam hits on the back. I've got the whole thing sanded down and repainted. Now I just have to wait for the paint to cure before I can put it all together. I think this should work pretty well.

Image
#4900211
Looks like it could work. I do have one concern though.
My concern is that depending on how the frame sits it could be rather painful having the hard section pressing right on the spine.
Comparing how the frame sits on the pack to the image of your son wearing the pack... It looks like that probably won't be an issue, but keep it in mind when you give it a test fit.
#4900220
It is covered with the foam so hopefully he won't feel it. If he does I have a backup plan. That part can be split in the middle and still work to remove some of that plastic. We'll see. I have it all installed on the pack and it feels a lot better to me. Being able to move the foam all the way to the top makes it a lot more comfortable when I will inevitably have to wear it. Only thing I am debating right now is should I increase the size of the bottom bar. I made the top one about 8 1/2 inches as it needed some more oomph. right now the bottom one feels pretty good on my back so not sure wider would do anything but improve it aesthetically. The nice thing is there is 0 glue in the backpack so I can pull it apart easily if I wanna make mods.

Image

Image
#4900322
The new strap setup is working great. He wore it tonight and it was very comfortable. No more issues so glad about that....

However there was a mishap. He dropped the wand nose first on concrete. I wasn't looking when it happened but I was sure it was in 1000 pieces from the sound. Amazingly it only has a major chunk taken out of the nose piece and a pretty large gash in the trigger box. The trigger box one just looks like it's wear and tear (glad I did the gray primer undercoat. The wand is pretty strong. Much stronger than I was expecting. Also glad I didn't put any major electronics in the wand. Everything still works great. Let's hope for no more of those before halloween :)

He did win best costume at the party so there is that :)
grogking liked this
#4900335
That's pretty cool. I had not seen that one before. There is also this proton pistol.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2335760

The problem wasn't weight. The wand is quite lite actually. He was just showing off and was trying to reach back and pull it off the pack and it slipped out of his hands. At least I know it's not as delicate as I had feared.
#4900567
That would would work well in the setup too. I used these for my build

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/4515437 - light near the clippard
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/4515614 - sloblo
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/4515623 - Vent light front
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/4515456 - Vent light rear (no led tied to this one)
xoff00 liked this
#4900663
So I'm looking into getting your 80% wand printed for myself for my spirit pack but was curious if I wanted to use real parts on it vs the 3d printed ones would there would be any kind of foreseeable problems?

I'll probably use a 3d printed clippard valve (still not sure yet) but all the knobs, switches, heatsink, etc. I'd like to use non 3d printed parts if that's doable.
#4900700
My main printer now is the Monoprice Maker Select V2.1. Mine is pretty modified and took a little while to get printing the way I wanted. It's a really nice printer for the price though. Heated bed and large build area.

A lot of good info on it here:
https://3dprinterwiki.info/wiki/wanhao-duplicator-i3/

The V2.1 that amazon sells has a lot of upgrades already. The only thing I consider a MUST is the mosfet upgrade for the heat bed. Then it's some belt tensioners to get rid of the springs (Lots on thingiverse to choose from. Just print some for the x and y axis).

If you are finishing your parts then that is all of the upgrades you need to do.

Odd thing is amazon doesn't have the page listed anymore for the select v2 or the pro. I wonder why.
#4901057
I never did show what I did with the speakers. Here is a pic of the front speaker holes that I drilled out under the bumper. It works great and unless you know where to look you can't see them at all. Perfect spot I think

Image

The pack survived halloween with only a few scratches and dings. Nothing that I need to repair. It's starting to get it's own weathering :)

Image
Glenn Frederick liked this
#4901061
Oh nice... I think all I have left to do is figure out how to get my sound amp to hook up to the sound board. It's a little bit different than the one you got (so I'm not 100% on the output to input).

My soundboard, https://www.adafruit.com/product/2133 But I know how to go from the nano to this,

but this is what I got for my amp https://www.adafruit.com/product/1752
#4901063
Should be hooked up like this and I would recommend soldering on the capacitor even though they say it is optional.

Image

the 2mb fx board has very limited memory. In order to fit most of the sounds you'll need to trim the idle, firing, and fire with alert sounds. Everything could be converted to ogg but that adds delays in playing the sounds. I used the 16mb version of the fx board to get all of the sounds in
#4901065
Yeah, I realized I should gotten it after, do you think it would just be best for me to pop for the 16mb version and not even try messing around with the 2mb?

That diagram is bomb. You are the nicest person I have ever met on the internet. I know that doesn't say much because everyone's an a-hole as a baseline to go from, but you always go above and beyond to help a newbie idiot like me.
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