Boba Fett Chest Display

I did this in just one sitting last night, after a few days of though. But actually, its not that difficult because from what I saw in the video clip, once I see the '4017' chip, its a no brainer. This is because the 4017 is a decade counter where you just give it some clock pulse, (even tapping the clock connection pin will do) and it will drive the LEDs, pin by pin. How fast or how slow, the clock speed is up to you. Being a lazy guy (for not wanting to calculate as simple RC timing), I got a '555' set up and connected it to the 4017. This two ICs are a very common combination for a lot of props, especially in Star Trek.

The '555' is often used where clock pulses are needed and its a versatile IC. Heck, since the 70's (I think) its still being used today compared to the LM3909 which was also (now) very highly sought after as its both a timer and single LED driver, all in one small IC chip.

Anyway, this circuit was done because Kal pointed me to a video-clip from the Internet. And so, after looking at the pictures and the video for a while, I sussed the whole thing out. But I did not want to use the resistor and capacitor combination, as I do not have the time to figure out the actual timing. Looping the video again and again, I think the timing was about 700ms but I am not so sure since I am hopeless at this. Moreover, I did not get the response if this video is taken off from a movie or an actual prop and so, I did the next best thing: guess.

If I were bored, I could have set up a alternative chest display which could scroll the 7-segments to read things like, "Ooh, I'm hit", "Shields at 70% Chestiness", "Chest hair loss ratio at 40%.", etc. But I was not bored. So there. And besides, Uncle Ho could not get me any copies of "The Empire Strikes back" and "Return of the Jedi" except for the Family Guy's "Something Something Something Darkside" which I doubt could help me on this.

To me, this is something completely new as I have never noticed that Boba Fett as a display inside his armour. I mean, the only 'electronics' I have ever seen on a Star Wars character, apart from R2-D2 and C-3PO, was Darth Vader and Lando Calrission's PC, Lobot or something. And so, there are two ways to do this, which the first was a cheap LED Bike Light (and after you have seen the video below, you will know why it does not work) while the second was through a 'proper' circuit, which is more convincing.

Anyway, Kal, see if this is the correct one or not, do not be taken by the fact what I have done it. Just look at it from a discerning prop guy. If its accurate, then its good. If its not, well, you'd need to tell me what needs to be improved. Plus, how big do you want the circuit to be since we have established its thickness is more or less, well below the half-inch requirement. And it needs to be credit card sized, it will have to be a custom designed PCB and not the normal stripboards.

One good thing about prototype boards is that you
can rip out the old circuit (but take notes first) and
do a new one. Took me some time to get the small
RED 7-segment LED Display, though.

Unfortunately, due to the way the prototype board
and the 7-segments were designed, it was impossible
to put them the right way up. But on the left, the
7-segments are shown left to right but with 90º clock
wise. The other 5 rectangle LEDs are of the correct
orientation. Don't worry if they do not flash in
sequence as that is how they looked in the video.

And oh, here is the video. Don't know why but when I place my Nokia 5800 on top of the table magnifying lens, as a tripod tingy, it (the video) became clearer: