Some more Pics

Setting up for the next big push

Well, we've been looking at different radio controls for R2. i think I'm leaning towards the Spektrum Dx 6i. It appears to have i'd need in a controller. I like the thought of not having to fiddle with crystals. I've added the link below if you're interested in seeing a pic.

http://www.robotmarketplace.com/products/0-SPM6600.html

One of the things I've noticed recently is the noise coming from the berring. My father was looking at it and made a comment that it doesn't have enough berring grease. I honestly thoguht that the Rockler berring would have been sent with sufficent grease. i'm now guessing that isn't the case. I'm going to shop around for some berring grease that won't leak out of the berring. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Sci-Fi on the Rock Pics

Sci-Fi on the Rock III - R2 First convention

Wow! That one word pretty much sums up the great time we had at the convention. We had our own table where R2 sat quietly watching over the vendor tables.

My wife and kids were dressed up in great costumes. Eileen = Leia, Sydney = Padme and Quinn = Slave Anakin. My wife made the kids costumes on thursday and Friday. Great job Eileen! My brother and I didn't dress up at all. There weren't may bald Star Wars characters.. Hmm.. maybe we'll go as lobot next year.. :-)

We had collected some R2 toys so those were layed around the table for display. My mothers R2 hats which my mother knitted were probably the biggest hit at our table. People constantly asking "how much for the hats". They were immediatly disappointed once told that we werent' selling anything. We did bring print-outs of the knitting pattern for the hats which flew off the table. (I'm positive there are going to be alot of Moms and Grandmothers mad at us over that one). Maybe next year my mom can knitt a few for sale.. we'll see.. :-)

People seemed to enjoy our display. I spoke to everyone who stopped and spent time discussing the future plans for our R2 unit. People had lots of suggestions on how to proceed with motors, servos, and lights. There were other people who suggested and pointed out where i could get some of my materials cut which will be a great help in completing R2 for next April. The feedback we received was all positive.

My brother and I had a small presentation regarding how and why I started building R2. My wife floated around the room, Sydney handed out parts for people to see and Quinn answered some questions. I went into some detail regarding the groups I'd joined and the research I'd done before starting. I talked about the tools & materials I'd used and also spoke regarding the costs associated with my build. I was a little worried that I couldn`t fill the minimum 20 minutes that they`d asked me to do... we managed to fill an hour!

We're really looking forward to the convention next year. Our goal - a mobile R2!

Special Note

To everyone who stopped at our table I want to send out a big THANKS!!! We really appreciated all of you questions, comments and suggestions. You were all great to talk with. You enthusiasm certainly helps keep us motivated in pushing forward to complete our goal. We'll see you next year!

Thanks from,

Mike, Eileen, Sydney, Quinn and My brother Scott

Friday April 24th

I took friday off to spend time working on R2. There were three main goals that I wanted finished for the Sci-fi on the rock convention.

1. Attach the skins.

2. Attach the legs.

3. Finish cutting the dome.

With the help and patience of my wife I was successful in completing all of my goals. I have to say r2 looks GREAT! I'm very pleased with how he turned out.

Dome Photos

I realize its been a while since my last post. UG.!! anyways I've been cutting pieces out of my dome and attempting to mount it to my Rockler bearing. So far so good!

Little steps little steps!

Circling my Dome

Around and around I go. Its funny how certain tasks seem to take forever to start. What I find even funnier is that once I finally start the task I feel immediate satisfaction. I created a jig for preping my dome for cutting. I put holes in my jig (styrene strip) for marking the dome. I also printed on a piece of paper the dome top to ease my frustrations with marking out my pie shapes.

At this point I'm still not sure whether I'll use Darren's template for the cutting of the dome sections. I think I'll just start with teh top and work my way down. I probably will use the template to verify that I haven't missed a section or that I'm not making the pieces too large or small.

Small steps :-)