Giving the HMZ-T1 a new 3D-printed shell

Post by **rfurlan** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 11:10 pm

Today I disassembled my HMZ-T1 in order to make measurements of its internal components. Next, I plan to design a minimalistic replacement shell that is as light, small and useable as possible.

If everything goes well, I will upload the model to Shapeways so everyone can use it.

All advice and suggestions are welcome

Here are the measurements if anyone would like to try doing the same:

Post by **brantlew** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 11:23 pm

Fantastic idea! The stock HMZ-T1 design is tragically flawed. But custom modding can be intimidating and time-consuming. A standardized alternative shell would breathe new life into this product.

Post by **cybereality** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:41 pm

Awesome! Good luck man.

Post by **rfurlan** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:08 pm

After exploring a few possibilities, I think this is a good design to build upon:

FatShark's Dominators

Any thoughts?

Post by **cybereality** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:42 pm

That design looks decent. At least you know the ski-goggle form-factor is comfortable. Depending on the weight, though, you may want/need an additional strap going over the head.

Post by **rfurlan** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:35 pm

Yes, that is what I was thinking too, while the internal components are remarkably light, the weight of the IO cable added to the weight of the shell might turn out to be an issue

Projects Backed · Post by **LeeN** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:00 pm

I don't know if any one has seen this but this guy modded his hmz-t1 with a bicycle helmet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSsLjPD6 ... ata_player

Post by **rfurlan** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:47 pm

Yes, that is pretty cool! What I am trying to come up with is a solution that is lighter and smaller than the original

Post by **PalmerTech** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:42 pm

Great idea!

Something to consider: It might be stronger and cheaper to make something that could be made on a laser cutter using acrylic rather than 3D printing. No super cool curves, but hey, it works.

Post by **rfurlan** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:51 pm

Hi Palmer, laser-cut acrylic certainly has its advantages (cheap, durable!). Here are my reasons for a 3D-printed solution:

1. Parametric fit, you can adjust the model to fit you better before you print;
2. Thanks to Shapeways, 3D printing is cheap(ish) and accessible to everyone;
3. Structural complexity isn't a problem because printing a complex object isn't much harder than printing a simpler one - the whole outer shell could be composed of two complex pieces that snap together around the internal components;
4. Several materials and colors to choose from;
5. Vanity - I wouldn't mind if the final product looks nice

Post by **sonicoliver** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:00 pm

my only concern is weight, but goggle approach looks really good. perhaps look at some of those head mounted camping lights for balace cues.

another place to look would be nightvision goggles... i'll have a think...

Post by **sonicoliver** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 7:08 pm

One concern I have with googles is that I think people have different noses and eyes, so while it might fit well, the alignment may be slightly off, and as you know, the HMZ is very sensitive to vertical movement. This is probably one reason Sony went the direction they went, with straps under the rear of the head, then letting the user slide the vizor down into a position that works.

Perhaps do a mock up, and test on a wide variety of faces first. If small vertical adjustments are indeed required, maybe simply just make the foam softer on the lower portion so that it can be positioned over a nose, or maybe even have the viewer assembly housing independent from the foam "mask".

Post by **rfurlan** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:17 pm

Yes, I am worried about that too

One thing I noticed is that as you bring the optics closer to your eyes, it becomes easier to have more of the screen in sharp focus. I wonder if that is something most people would experience and could benefit from.

Luckily I have access to a good 3D-printer and I can iterate a few times to find out if this design is actually viable.

Post by **Pflugshaupt** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:19 am

rfurlan, great project! I thought about doing a shell myself, but unfortunatley I have no experience with 3d printing and only very limited cad skills. However I did a lot of tweaking/modding on the hmz and have taken it apart multiple times now in order to find a more comfortable solution than what we get included.

Do you plan to keep the part that holds the lenses? I'd almost kill for a solution that would allow to move the eyepieces further apart as even the widest setting is too narrow for me, but that would mean replacing the holder plastic as well. I'd also recommend to do that in order to loose even more weight and to just keep what's absolutely necessary.

I know disconnecting the eyepiece data wires is scary, but it's ok compared to what I've seen inside some small laptops.

anyway I'm very interested to follow your progress and once there is a result, I might just order a "printout" and try it out with my hmz.

Post by **rfurlan** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:13 pm

Pflugshaupt wrote:rfurlan, great project! I thought about doing a shell myself, but unfortunatley I have no experience with 3d printing and only very limited cad skills. However I did a lot of tweaking/modding on the hmz and have taken it apart multiple times now in order to find a more comfortable solution than what we get included.

I hear you, I don't have much modeling experience myself either so I hired someone to create the 3D model based on the measurements I took. Delivery is due today, I am pretty sure I will have to iterate several times before it is good enough but at least I have access to a 3D printer I can use to iterate quickly and on the cheap

Pflugshaupt wrote:Do you plan to keep the part that holds the lenses? I'd almost kill for a solution that would allow to move the eyepieces further apart as even the widest setting is too narrow for me, but that would mean replacing the holder plastic as well. I'd also recommend to do that in order to loose even more weight and to just keep what's absolutely necessary.

I have the same problem as you, even the widest setting is too narrow for me too. For now, I am keeping the internals as they are for the sake of getting the outer shell model uploaded to Shapeways sooner than later so everyone can use it.

I should have the first draft model in a couple of hours

Post by **rfurlan** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:14 pm

Here are some images of the first draft. There is still a lot of work left to do (make sure internals will fit, eye cups, eye relief, wiring, headphone jacks etc). I am going to print it tonight, iterate tomorrow, print again, iterate again, until it is serviceable. PM me if you would like a copy of the files

Post by **brantlew** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:29 pm

Very cool ! Please pay attention SONY!

If this works out well, I may just have to trade in my ST1080.

Post by **bobv5** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:34 pm

Looks good. I would recomend an extra strap over the top of the head, and provision for routing the cable over the top of the head to help counterbalance the mass of front part.

Post by **cybereality** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:08 pm

Nice!

Post by **pierreye** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:22 am

Great. I'm thinking to get a 3D printer such as Solidoodle ver 2. I'm not sure your model will fit the printer as it can print in 6" x 6" x 6" dimension. Also, I'm looking forward to a design that can tilt the optics up/down and left/right for optimum focus.

Post by **rfurlan** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:11 pm

First print report: disaster!

Lesson learned: entry-level plastic extrusion printers are for people with an incredible tolerance to frustration.

I was using a 3DTouch printer:
http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/usd/store/ ... riple-head

At the $4,400 price point, I expected it to be able print stuff more often than it fails to do so. Not the case, after 7 hour-long attempts, I am giving up on it.

I will try with a fused deposition (FDM) printer next, which if I am not mistaken is the kind of printer Shapeways.com uses.

Post by **cybereality** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 1:35 pm

Well you live and you learn. Hopefully the next test will come out better.

Post by **brantlew** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 1:42 pm

So what's your estimate of the cost to print something like this at Shapeways?

Post by **rfurlan** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 1:45 pm

brantlew wrote:So what's your estimate of the cost to print something like this at Shapeways?

I got a preliminary quote in the $60-70 range

Post by **Chriky** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:02 pm

Bad news about the first (several!) print attempts, rfurlan, but really great that you are trying this. When people develop stuff out in the open, you get to see every pitfall, and we learn so much more. It's so much better seeing the development process than just seeing the end product, even if that is open sourced. Good luck with Shapeways.

Projects Backed · Post by **LeeN** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:53 pm

I've had a 3d printer (Makergear Mosaic) for several months now and my advice is to come up with a simpler desgn to make sure things fit right first, this way you don't waste a lot of plastic. Maybe consider something like a cage. You can use cloth or paper temporarily to cover the cage when testing.

Post by **rfurlan** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:35 pm

LeeN wrote:Maybe consider something like a cage. You can use cloth or paper temporarily to cover the cage when testing.

That is a really good idea!

Post by **rfurlan** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:47 pm

Quick update: I am still waiting to gain access to a better 3d-printer to iterate on the design. In the meantime, a friend managed to print the bottom part of the shell using an extrusion printer. The result isn't pretty but at least I can start adjusting the 3d model. Later today I am going to disassemble my HMZ (for good) and place its internals inside the printed shell to see adjustments need to be made for the next iteration.

Post by **pierreye** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 10:31 am

How heavy is the shell? It looks quite thick.

Post by **bobv5** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:58 pm

Those extra bits that you didn't wan't, they are called "flash" It is normal when working with plastic. It is standard practice in the plastics industry to pay someone minimum wage to chop them bits off.

EDIT-typo

EDIT 2- I would recomend the sharpest knife you can get your hands on to remove it. The slim style stanley knife blades are the best I have used, but I have no idea if they are avaiable where you live.

Post by **AntiCatalyst** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:42 pm

rfurlan wrote:Quick update: I am still waiting to gain access to a better 3d-printer to iterate on the design. In the meantime, a friend managed to print the bottom part of the shell using an extrusion printer. The result isn't pretty but at least I can start adjusting the 3d model. Later today I am going to disassemble my HMZ (for good) and place its internals inside the printed shell to see adjustments need to be made for the next iteration.

Your friend should be proud. AFAIK, a part as large as this is almost guaranteed to crack between layers from the heat expansion(or rather contraction)

Post by **brantlew** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:24 pm

Check out this other printed case. Looks pretty far along and very nice indeed. Take notes Sony.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1371946/sony- ... t_22184257

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1371946/sony- ... t_22248977

Now we just need a good DIY guide for swapping the electrical system to DC and repackaging the enormous control box. Then we might finally have a decent consumer grade HMD.

Post by **cybereality** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:34 pm

The looks really nice, actually. It's got that "90's VR" look.

Post by **rfurlan** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:38 pm

Whoa, I love it!

Post by **foisi** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 2:47 am

Sorry for being a little off topic but does anyone know where I can find a head mount like this one (I can't find it in google - I searched "night vision goggles mount") ?
Thanks

Post by **android78** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:09 am

foisi wrote:Sorry for being a little off topic but does anyone know where I can find a head mount like this one (I can't find it in google - I searched "night vision goggles mount") ?
Thanks

I found this... but it seems far too expensive for what it is:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MONOCULAR-NI ... 700wt_1164

Projects Backed · Post by **LeeN** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:35 am

I was thinking that might be a mount for a welding mask, or maybe alternatively a welding mask could be used?

http://www.google.com/images?q=welding+ ... sult_group

Projects Backed · Post by **LeeN** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:47 am

Searching for face shield also brings up lots of products, it's just a matter of finding one that has a mounting point.

Post by **rfurlan** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:06 pm

Sorry for the lack of updates on the HMZ shell project. It is on the backburner now, I got distracted with this: http://bitcortex.com/2012/08/02/do-it-y ... rsonal-hud

PM me if you would like a copy of the Autodesk Inventor files for the shell to carry on with it on your own

Post by **CyberVillain** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 1:46 am

Total blackout of the outside world is a very important part of the design, that one that brantlew linked too looks nice, but it fails on that department