Dec 31, 2015 | By Benedict

In September 2014, the superheroes at Adafruit released a fantastic tutorial for a 3D printed Daft Punk helmet, mimicking the space-robot stylings of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo—one half of the heralded French duo. Now, Adafruit’s Ruiz Brothers have decided to go through the process one more time, creating a 3D printed replica of Thomas Bangalter’s equally iconic headgear.

The new 3D printed helmet, which promises to be harder, better, faster and stronger than last year’s model, features a set of stunning Bluetooth-controlled NeoPixel LEDs, which can be controlled by a smartphone or smartwatch. If wearers of the 3D printed helmet are doing it right, everybody will be dancing and feeling alright as the sleek Bluetooth-controlled LEDS light up the dance-floor.

Lovers of house music and 3D printing will recall that the 2014 Guy-Manuel helmet could be 3D printed in just one piece, but was both heavy and opaque. The Thomas helmet may not be particularly aerodynamic, but it is much lighter than its predecessor and features a transparent visor—ideal when getting face to face with one’s dancing partner.

Of course, making something this cool is never an easy task, so makers should prepare to be up all night, possibly to the sun, should they feel like giving the project a try. The 3D printed helmet requires a handful of affordable Adafruit electronics, including a 5V Trinket and Feather 32u4 Bluefruit, as well as a sizable 3D printer for printing the biggest parts of the helmet. The biggest challenge for makers, however, is getting that desirable robot shine atop the plastic helmet. Adafruit warns of the immense amount of rolling and scratching required to fully sand down the surface of the headgear, as well as the large working space required.

To avoid any danger of a short circuit, makers should closely follow the Ruiz Brothers’ circuitry diagram, which covers the two main electronic sections: ears and visor. The Adafruit 5V Trinket uses Arduino IDE, and the LED-controlling sketch is available to download on the project’s “Code” section.

The Daft Punk helmet is divided into three main 3D printed parts: top, middle and bottom. Although the pieces can be printed in materials such as ABS, PET or Nylon, Adafruit recommends going with PLA to reduce warping when printing the large parts. Creative types can even extend their homework by playing with the provided Autodesk Fusion 360 files. The 3D printed helmet is designed to fit a hat size of 7" 3/8, which should be big enough for most—big enough even for glasses to be worn under the visor.

Try building the 3D printed helmet yourself and wearing it to your next disco. You know you’ll get lucky.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Application

 

 

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Quade wrote at 1/6/2016 1:20:20 AM:

Lol to all the Daft Punk song references x)



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