Hi cbenson, thanks for your reply. Yes I want to mororise and make a crash helmet RC. However, now the protection has been removed the donor helmet has the integrity of an ice cream cone, so the components would need to be mounted on a plate that would carry the components and act as a chassis.
The OD of the shell is 36 x 25 cm’s. The ID of the bottom of the helmet is 27 x 20 cm’s. The helmet is a flip front or of modular design, the front of the helmet is hinged and results in a large cavity, this allows the helmet to be put on or removed but means the cavity at the bottom edge is much smaller than the OD when closed.
The shape of the helmet is like an egg but with one side cut off, so the widest point is in the middle. The wheels could sit within the OD dimensions, but I don’t see a way for how the steering would work as as with any motor vehicle, wheels and tyres interfere with the bodywork without sufficient wheel arch accomodation. The suspension could be rudimentary as the vehicle would be used on mostly flat tarmac and mown grass. I suppose the helmet could be a walker, but I guess the cost would increase beyond that of ordinary steering gear and although a walking crash helmet would hold some fascination, I think wheels is the way forward, unless someone with more experience than me, which isn’t hard, has a convincing argument.
The way I see it, centre of gravity will be affected by component location with the heaviest being the power cell unless multiple cells could be located adjacent to the wheels, with the other components placed either on the chassis or mounted on a supplimentary chassis fastened to the roof of the helmet and connected to the main chassis components. The blue and red lights would be located around the top third of the helmet either as individual units, or a light bar with the wiring going internal through drilled holes sealed with silicone or epoxy.
Going back to the chassis, this could be aluminium for strength and ridgidity and to keep the weight down as well as price unless there is a material that would serve better. The wheels could be solid with or without a solid tyre.
The most likely user age group would be in single figures, but anyone driving the helmet could go off course and be a danger to others, which is why a remote kill switch needs to be part of the design. Some sort of power trip switch that can be easily re set.
To my knowledge, no one has been crazy enough to attempt this, like I couldn’t find a fireman’s helmet with flashing lights, siren and hoses, but I do now own a helmet with 6v power to a car washer pump connected to a bladder of water and washer jets, switched by a microswitch on a finger ring. The lights are random flashing red and blue LED’s powered by a 9v battery, likewise the siren kit is 9v battery powered, both activated by helmet mounted switches. I did build this myself, but motorising a helmet is currently beyond my skill set. So to answer your question I haven’t found an existing project.
Thanks for reading. Regards. Chris
