Men in Black Neuralyzer
Engineering Projects That Showcase My Expertise
Men in Black Neuralyzer
A project that went on hold after I received a concussion, this is waiting to be revisited. The goal is to mimic the Neuralyzers’ use in the Men in Black movies by flashing an extremely bright light to erase memories.
Features
- Neuralyzer Body: The 3D model was taken from an open source file available online and modified to be more accurate to the movie and strategically hollowed out to allow for the installation of electronics.
- Capacitor Circuit: A 2F super capacitor is used to briefly supply a large amount of current to 4 high-power LEDs. Another 2F super capacitor recharges the main super capacitor when it is not discharging to extend the number of uses before the system needs to be recharged. The charging and discharging is controlled via a 3-way momentary switch, modeled as two linked switches in LTspice.
- High-Power LEDs: The LXM3 SMD LEDs were chosen precisely because of their high luminance at a low forward voltage and accurate color to the first Men in Black movie.
Future Plans
- Neuralyzer Body: The 3D modeling needs to be continued to allow for the mounting of the electronics and the mechanical system to facilitate the opening and closing of the device. This will be a challenge to design considering the prop, if kept at an accurate scale to the movie, is not much larger than a jumbo sharpie when collapsed.
- Custom PCB: A custom PCB will have to be designed for the circuit. In addition to what has already been included in the proof of concept, a system will have to be added to the PCB to charge the super capacitors – preferably via USB-C – and potentially a small battery to extend the number of uses of the device even further.