DCon 2012 - part I

Hey there!  Well after a grand old time last semester, I'm rejoining the fray with some new planned upgrades.

The theme is similar to last time, a solidly cyberpunk look  something to the tune of the sketch below?

  As always, I'm a sucker for a nice exoskeleton....so we begin with the new spine!  

I started in CAD, similar to last time, with the intention of "building out" from the last time.  More shiny!  More size/scale!  More lights!  So this time instead of traverse sections, we're going sagittal, baby.

Below is a chart showing the progress over the month or so of design changes.  Started with a more biological looking construction, but as you can see these didn't stack too well

 So the simpler redesign around mid-June was neat, but didn't have the right complexity.  So I added ribs and metallic circuit-looking inserts into the segments.  Below is the final CAD that I used for cutting the parts and the plan for what it should look like.  The segments are hinged to to allow motion in the sagittal plane (e.g. up and down like a lizard in aggressive mode).

So now onto the fabrication!  Sections were cut and sandwiched with pieces of reflective coated polyester film (it's what's inside most astronaut suits to keep in heat).  Turns out it cuts beautifully on a laser cutter, while normal metal foils do not.

More shots of progress soon!