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This Raspberry Pi Pico Fallout-inspired T-45 power armor helmet is ready for battling radroaches
When it comes to making props and replicating hardware from science fiction, makers will undoubtedly use their favorite board, and that's exactly what's happened with today's project, created by maker and developer Grimdaria as he's known as over at Reddit. Using our favorite microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico, Grimdaria has put together an amazing T-45 power armor helmet from the 'Fallout' franchise. And we think that the Brotherhood of Steel would approve of this build.
This project was designed as part of a Halloween costume for his son and has been scaled to fit a child's head. That said, there's plenty of room inside to fit a plethora of electronics and features that his son not only can monitor but also operate. There are LEDs, a temperature sensor and even a screen inside.
It can be hard to hear what's going on outside with a big helmet like this, so Grimdaria got creative and threw in a microphone. This makes it possible for his son to listen to the audio using a pair of headphones. The internal screen is an OLED display which gives plenty of details about the hardware at a glance including things like the temperature, headphones volume and whether or not the lights and fans are on or off.
The main board powering the operation is a Raspberry Pi Pico. It's connected to a 12-LED NeoPixel ring which operates the main helmet light, a couple of buttons, a potentiometer for adjusting the lights and volume, as well as a series of fans, the temperature sensor and of course the OLED screen.
You might be wondering about how practical the OLED screen is inside of the helmet but apparently it worked quite well with no complaints after three hours of trick or treating. Grimdaria positioned it in the nose of the helmet to keep it as far away from the eyes as possible. It has a resolution of 128 x 64px and features a combination of blue and yellow.
This is one of the coolest 'Fallout' themed projects we've seen—especially when you consider it made for an unforgettable Halloween experience. If you want to get a closer look at this awesome Raspberry Pi project, check out the original thread shared to Reddit by Grimdaria.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
