Introduction: RWBY GOGGLES

About: Mechanical Engineer at Wright State University. Gamer Enthusiast and Amateur builder.

I discovered the show RWBY while gathering reference photos for a scythe build from Darksiders. I found pictures of crescent rose (one of the main weapons in the show) and immediately wanted to get a better view of it in action. After binge watching 6 seasons I knew had to start building something from the show. The time lined up with the 1000th contest and I gave myself the challenge of designing and building something in a week.

It might not be the most polished project but I have enjoyed experience and hope you guys enjoy.

Supplies

Equipment Used:

-3d Printer

-CAD Software-I used Fusion 360 which is currently free to hobbyist but there are alternatives.

-Soldering Iron with Solder

-Laser Cutter

-Materials Used:

-3d Filament

-Neopixels

-1S Lipo battery

-500 Powerboost This can be used to both charge the battery and bump up the voltage to 5.0V for the Trinket

-Solid Core and Strained Wire-

Step 1: Gather Reference Photos

Everything begins with an idea- Earl Nightingale

Once you know what you want to make either a copy of something existing or something more original you need a collection of source material.

In my case Maria Calavera eyes was something from an existing show. I could directly reference to the views from the show and cosplayers who have built before me. In order to model the eyes in CAD I needing different views and angles. Do the eyes change season to season?

It is important to store a collection of resources for reference either printed or digital. If you find that prefect source of inspiration and you don't store it, sketch it or bookmarked the universe will know and you will never find it again.

Step 2: CAD and Modeling in General

This is not going to be CAD lessen, there plenty of great tutorial online, but I will tell you a couple lessons I have learned.

-When your designed something that you going to make, get a cruel model made quickly and if it is feasible make it. Once you have the most basic model you can improve it and start to see the things that you missed.

-Know the equipment your designing for and their limitations. I am going to talk about 3d printer because that is what I know. A 1in 3d printed circle will not fit in a 1in 3d printed circle, tolerance gap is needed in the model. A 3d printer can not print midair. A 3d printer prints on layers if there is not a layer underneath it will fall unless it is supported.

-Save often. Computers know.

Step 3: Print Settings

Printer Setting:

PLA

Nozzle Temp 220

BED Temp. 60

layer Height .1mm

Use a high infill 80%+ This is not needed for strength but rather keep the light from diffusing thru the whole piece. The same might be able to be achieved by painting the inside black. where light should not shine.

Supports are need but this will be on the back and not be visible.

Step 4: Programming

If your not familiar with neo pixels they are RGB LEDS that can be programming in a line.

You can address each neo pixel in the line and set the individual RBG value. (0,0,0)

My code will give a solid glow, but in the future I might adjust to add either a pulse or flickering effect.

When you are uploading the code to the trinket it acts a little differently than other Arduino based boards and requires some additional plug ins.

You will need the Adafruit NeoPIxel Library and the Arduino AVR Board.

Next you will need to set the board to Adafruit trinket(ATiny85 @16MHtz) and the programmer to USPtinyISP.

You do not need to select a Port but instead click the button on the Trinket and for 10 secs Arduino will use this path uploading the code.

Step 5: Wiring

For this project I am running 2 lines of neo pixels in parallel. One for the right side and one for left and their color value will be mirrored. If I wanted to address each pixel separately I could attached each line to its own data pin or make one continuous line. The wiring is fairly straight forward but tedious. Just make sure to check the connections and direction on the pixels.

Neo pixels are offered in several shapes but I cheaped out and got the individual ones in bulk and therefore tasked with making each soldered connection.

I secured everything in place with a little hot glue.

Next time I would probably redo this with a couple straight strips for the pupils and ¼ circles for the outside and save a couple dozen connections.

Step 6: Final Touches and Thoughts

I finished the pieces with a backer board and quote from the show

Final thoughts I really enjoyed the project but the final details got a little rushed in the end.

I plan to update this in the future and add a couple more lighting effects.

Wiring could be cleaned up a bit and the charging ports could be relocated for better access.

I hope you enjoyed and would like to see you guys could improve the design.

1000th Contest

Participated in the
1000th Contest