Coming Up.....

I just realized I haven't mentioned anything about a couple of upcoming events me and R6 will be at later this year.

First up, DROID-CON II!!!!  That's right.  Once again the convention by the builders, for the builders is coming to Indianapolis August 2nd - 4th at the same Hotel as last time.  Should be a lot more builders this time around.  Here's the link, http://www.droidcon.info.

 Second, I will be bring R6 to another local convention I didn't even know about called Star Base Indy.  It will take place the weekend after Thanksgiving at a Hotel in downtown Indianapolis.  I was contacted by a member of the local Star Wars fan club, the Indy Knights.  They asked if I could bring my droid to their table this year and talk to people about building droids and the Builders Club.  Of course I accepted.  Should be fun.

Well, with these two cons around the bend, I need to get R6 back in shape.  And so this weekend I'll be borrowing my brother's garage so I can make only the most crucial repairs.  The two things that need the most refinement are the Foot Drives and the legs/ankles.  The foot drives only have the one wheel and as such the feet aren't well balanced.  This has caused extra stress on the outer ankles resulting in the ankle locking bolts becoming loose because the holes in the wood are becoming bigger.  To fix this I'll be adding a small swivel caster to the foot drives so they're balanced and have support on both ends of the foot.  In addition, I'll be building new legs with built in ankle locks to avoid future problems.  Unfortunately I can't add the new caster wheel to the current foot drive bracket so I'll be making a modified version with new aluminum (already ordered).  It seems more and more pieces of R6 are being redone.  First the body, then the head, and now the legs and foot drives.  Oh well.  As I've said in the past, I'll always be making improvements to this droid.

New post this weekend,

John

Delays, Delays...

So much for keeping up building momentum.

Right now I have a problem.  Since the start of the year, I no longer have access to a work shop where I can use heavy power tools or make a big mess.  I live in an apartment and no one I know nearby has a space I can freely use to do any loud and messy tool work.  It's a problem I can solve by buying my own house with a suitable workshop space (garage or unfinished basement), but I'm not certain when I can pursue that.  In the mean time, I'll do what I can but I'm starting to run out of things to work on without doing other things that require a workshop first.

That said, there a space I can use, but only in a limited way and not at will.  Still, I should be able rebuild the legs in time for Droid-Con II.

I'll keep you posted as I'm able to get stuff done.

John