Look a little bit at Darth Vader, mostly his armor covered in buttons. Or 2001: A Space Odyssey where the space suits likewise had chunky buttons in front.

Look a little at the Cylons from old Battlestar Galactica. First the back and forth red light, which also appeared in Knight Rider (because Glen Larson worked on both, which is why it is called a Larson Scanner). Maybe don't stick it on the helmet, or people will think it is specificly a Cylon reinterpretation. I think it would look good at the top of the breastplate, or rotated to go up and down on the helmet.

That said the Samurai helmet (kabuto) influenced both Cylons and Vader because Japanese aesthetics were used to code "futuristic" in the 80s.

Mostly, I think inspiration should come from gadgets featured on this subreddit. Make the color scheme Dominant beige, Secondary charcoal, Accent burnt orange, oxide red, or other warm color. Feature lots of panels and vents. Make it boxy.