Reddit reviews A.L.I.C.E. BackPack Frame, shoulder straps, lower back pad & waistbelt

In your first post you said:
>although they mentioned it was radio controlled in the final versions.

I assumed you wanted to know how to emulate that with modern electronics.

It looks like for the passive movements they went for passive spring action.

You might think about starting with an alice pack frame. Cheap milsurp frame for a pack, but they're excellent for attaching any kind of load bearing apparatus to yourself comfortably because they're intended to distribute the weight.

Find a way to attach the support members for the head and the tail to the frame.

Since the tail is thick I'll bet you could use a flexible metal rod going through the middle of the foam, and with a cable at the end tied to somewhere higher up on your back. That would make it cantilever so that it would swing back and forth at a level height.

The neck is going to be tricky if you're going to make it like theirs. Kind of looked like they used a urethrae or some other kind of stiff rubber honeycomb. You might be able to 3d print something like that.

You also may be able to use the same trick for the head as the tail, only with a rigid beam and a ball-and-socket joint, or something like that.

Those are just thoughts.

As already mentioned, digitigrade stilts will give you the foot angle you're looking for. They're tricky to build, but it can be done with just a drill press, a vice, a flat bastard-file, and a hacksaw.

They'll also make you taller. The longer they are, the harder they tend to be to balance on. I've played around with using passive pneumatic springs on a set I've got about half-built. The foot piece is still a crude prototype, but the upper components are pretty much where I want them. Here's a quick video of one of them

These have a pretty long metatarsal member, I stand roughly 7'6" in them resting, and if I lean forward I can get up to 7'8" when I lean forwards. So it would definitely make for a more impressive costume.

Alice frame?

I have never tried this, but if I did I would give it a go with an A.L.I.C.E frame.


I have one of those frames and you can use it for all sorts of weird unwieldy things that need transporting.

Nice example, a friend of mine took the radiator out of his truck to take to a radiator repair shop. Having no second car he put the radiator on the A.L.I.C.E. with straps and cycled off to the shop.
He was not on a brompton but could have been.....

Also I have used it for a full jerry can of fuel.

http://www.amazon.com/A-L-I-C-E-BackPack-shoulder-straps-waistbelt/dp/B000KD3GTE