Custom Electronics

Index

Cybernetic Furry Augmentation

Are you tired of being limited to only fluff and foam? What if there was a way to augment your fursona into the ultimate electron supercharged cyber-fluffball? Ok, Cybernetics on feeble human flesh is still in its infancy... but hey, I can put flashy lights and doohickeys all over a fursuit for you no problem! 


Alright, I'll admit the lead-based solder fumes are starting to get to my head a little, but its all in the name of progress and cool looking fly as fuck. I've been tinkering with electronics since the age of 8 and learning code for the last 2 years. the year is 2022. The planet is on fire and agriculture is struggling. The price of bread keeps going up and up, but I can buy microcontrollers for pennies on the dollar. 


Thus, when god gives you Arduinos... make cool flashy lights with them!

Maybe the protogens are on to something with the whole "ram eating" thing...


Anyway, what this means is that I have an array of microcontrollers and electronic components to source from online vendors. Electronic design requires careful planning, and thus, contacting me through my Telegram or Twitter to prepare build schematics is imperative. We need to plan where the components and batteries will be stored in your suit, how much battery capacity you need to last a full day at a con, what microcontrollers if any will be used, any many more factors specific to each case. 


Commission Pricing

I can either add electronic components to a suit that I build for you, or I can retrofit an electronic system into an existing fursuit with...minimally invasive surgery, which will cost more. As always these estimates are heavily dependent on the complexity of your commission. If a commission involves pre-existing code I or another wrote there are no additional fees. For example, A script for rainbow graphics with WS2812 LED's would not cost extra. If you however, wanted me to make custom animations for a 32x32 LED sheet, that would cost extra. If I just need to modify pre-existing code and change it a little there will still be an additional fee, but much less comparatively. 

Finally, for LED's, if you select the ws2812b type LED's with an ESP-32 microcontroller, and you have a mobile hotspot on your phone, you can use a phone application called WLED for full control. here is the WLED website. In that instance the "coding" is essentially done by you on the phone. The app is surprisingly thorough with the effects you can customize, yet if you need very specific animations you will likely still need to resort to custom coding from me. If you opt for the WLED system there will be no additional fee for coding. Here are some rough price estimates for various electronic commissions:


(The prices of arrays and frame coding scales with pixel count...eg: a 32x16 pixel array would be 2x these prices for everything)


Slated Prototypes

This is a non-exhaustive list of some bigger electronic fursuit projects I may try to Prototype, and rough price estimates:

Coding

I am most experienced with Arduino IDE but I plan to learn Python and Micropython. Most Microcontrollers will work with ArduinoIDE, including Teensy's, ESP's, and RaspberryPi Pico's / Zero's. I have built some scripts from the ground up, but coding usually involves reverse engineering chunks of other peoples scripts and gluing them together to do what you want. Below is a list of some scripts that i've written and modified for arduino IDE. Any modified scripts are accompanied with a link to the original script. 

Original JtingF/Kaiborg script for maxx7219 protogen face

My first modification of protogen code, not optimized

Second modification of protogen code, still with issues

Third modification of protogen code. This is the version I currently use

Script for my animated LED goggles. Uses FastLED library. Written by me

Script for Xeons arduino controlled eye, neck, and mouth lights. Written by me.

This is a script I wrote that turns note inputs into buzzer frequencies to make buzzer music

This one plays the Spamton theme from delta rune lmao        




Components (and what they do)

Output Systems


Input Systems


Microcontrollers, Amplifiers, and other control systems


Batteries



Connectors and Harnesses

Ok, so I know thats a lot to take in, but dont worry, just because there's a million options doesn't mean you have to pick a million things. When discussing a commission with me stick to what you want the end result to look like or do. Let me provide you a few options of achieving that result with the above components, and you decide whats most enticing. If you just want some cool looking lights we can do that with something as simple as an LED strip, and arduino, and a button. You get to decide how much complexity you want to add!

3d Printing, Laser cutting, and PCB fabrication

3D printing works great alongside electronics projects. See The VR page for information on slime trackers, and how I modified a thingiverse model for custom cases. 

I actually bought my k40 laser cutter before getting my ender 3 3D printer, but it doesn't get nearly as much use. for specific applications like etching, cutting precise stencils, or badges, its perfect. One promising application that I intend to use it for, is making custom PCB's.

Truth be told, the MAX7219 arrays used in many protogens are showing their age. Among the most advanced proto-engineers are Coelacant and  JtingF. They use custom PCB designs  fitted with ws2812 SMD's in pretty tight spacing. It makes for an optimal display but to get the PCB's you need to order from JLPCB or similar manufacturer. Its very expensive and takes months to get to you. 

I've heard of potential success in making PCB's using a simple CO2 laser like mine. First a coat of spraypaint is applied to the copper cladding, then a negative of the PCB traces is sent to the laser which etches off only the paint. The PCB is then dipped in a suitable acid wash like Iron(III) Chloride to remove the copper. Finally the paint can be removed with acetone. For SMD boards where I dont have to drill any thru-holes this may indeed be a viable strategy. I purchased the models for Coelacant's Protogen head a while back and all of the PCB files are in SVG format, something I can easily send to my laser cutter. 

The only other hurdle is LED placement on the board. I could potentially pull it off by hand after flowing the traces and using a heat gun, but it would take a very long time. The most practical solution would be to get an electronic parts picker. I could go out and get a dedicated picker...or... potentially, make some modifications to my 3d printer! Either way, several things need set in motion before any custom protogen faces are getting made. 

uwu laser tube

Laser cut Polycarbonate

copper clad pcb

Showcase

Protocake Arduino goggles

Xeon Mechderg dynamic lights

Arco, static UV LED's

Edge-lit LED badges for Valant Novalight 

adafruit wave shield

protogen gore

protogen arm controls

fuuutureee

solder traces

snoot

E-wire

beta (simple EL wire)

Props

Props can act as a better base for fancy electronics due to the reduced wear and tear compared to a fursuit with flexible joints. Generally speaking, props electronic quotes should be a little cheaper than a similar quote for fursuit modification. 

3D printed Call of Duty Zap guns with trigger activated lights, for Schrodinger's Fox 

Medic Backpack for Roki Raccoon Has a switch toggle red flashlight at the end of the Medic-gun 

Medic gun before fiberglassing and painting

Heavy Minigun before fiberglassing and painting

heavy

Medic Backpack before glassing and painting

The Medic gun and Miniguns were sort of a rush job before Colossalcon 2022. I Planned to originally add a drill motor to the Heavy minigun to make it spin but ran out of time very quickly. It still turned out great as a static prop though. 

Radioactive Stuff

So where'd I get this obsession with nuclear physics? Its really just the pinnacle of science. I only have a cursory understanding of it anyway, actual physicists are on a whole nother level!

My sona was originally going to be chuzzlepuff, my cosplay name. I was gonna be a pretty standard natural color jackal... but then the name came to me. Yes the name came first, randomly one day sitting in the break room of my auto shop. YELLOWCAKE. ITS PERFECT. ITS COOL. ITS CUTE. ITS RADIOACTIVE. I proceeded to quite literally design my sona as I built the fursuit. It all revolved around that name. As times gone on i've adopted the identity even more.

I started by purchasing a pretty standard beta/gamma digital detector and a few thorium samples. Eventually I decided I wanted a cooler geiger counter...*THE* geiger counter...the CD-V 700. They are from the 50's but you can get em on ebay for around 100 dollars but they need rebuilt. I ended up buying 2 along with a rebuild kit to swap parts until I had one functional counter. Now I have a few different cool cases along with a CDV715 and several dosimeters, good for if we uhh, actually get nuked. 

Any nuclear obsessed individual worth their salt has radioactive uranium glass and fiesta ware, I've also got several thorium mantles for calibration, and tritium tubes (imagine glowsticks that glow for 20 years). 

For kicks, at cons I stash sealed marked packages of thorium under my paws and in a second tongue of my fursuit. Its not harmful, but people get a kick out of it when the counter goes off near me.

CD-V 700

"Fusion core" prop with a tritium tube inside

Apothecary chemistry pants

Yellowcake with geiger counter

my room uwu

drinking flask (i've got a ton of these stickers dont hesistate to ask for one!)

glowy protogen

CD-V 700

CDV PCB

CDV tear down

PCB

strontium aluminate paws

CD-V schematic

uranium glass

uranium glass