Learning to Walk

So yesterday I got those scooter motors and today I wired them up for testing. While I was at it, I, of course, made a video.



Here's some pictures.


Now for the inside details.
As I mentioned in the previous post, these are 24 volt 100 watt electric motors used in the Razor E-100 toy scooters. I have them connected to a dual channel Electronic Speed Controller (ESC), specifically the Dimension Engineering Sabertooth 2X25 (picture on right), which is then controlled by the C6C receiver. These motors are the belt driven version (now discontinued by Razor and replaced with chains). I chose belts over chains because I didn't want the extra noise. Belts are already on order (the official Razor ones) but the belt driven wheels are no longer available. However, I did find a generic compatible scooter wheel that should work just fine.

The ESC has a set of 6 jumper switches to configure the ESC for battery type, controller type, and other options. I had some trouble at first setting these correctly because I was looking at it upside down. So take note. Always make sure you know which way is on and off. Once I got that sorted out, I had to flip around the wiring on the left side motor so it would run in the same direction. Don't worry, most electric motors are polarity reversible. This is important to pay attention to because when I install the motors into the feet, they'll be facing opposite directions thus the wiring must be reversed on one of them.

Once I have the belts and wheels I'll have to build a frame to mount each motor and wheel to and then mount that into the feet. I don't have all of that figured out just yet, but with dozens of examples from other builders and a little trial and error, I should be able to manage it.

John

Christmas Present for a Droid

Lately I've been rethinking using the NPC2212 motors for my droid, mainly because they're almost $200.00 a piece. A cheaper option would be using electric motors off of those toy scooters, such as the Razor E-100. Fortunately this doesn't require changing anything I've already done. I can still use the same electronic speed controller, etc..

So I did some looking around and round some replacement scooter motors compatible with the Razor E-100 for less than $20.00. Even better is the website is offering free shipping for a limited time. Here's the link, http://www.partsforscooters.com/119-17?sc=2&category=77293.

Note that this motor uses a belt to drive the wheels. This may be a problem because Razor has discontinued belt drives and now uses chain drives for their current line of scooters. As a result, belt drive wheels are hard to come by. Very hard. So why did I get the belt motor instead of the chain? Mainly because a chain drive makes a lot more noise than a belt drive. For the wheels I plan to either find the wheels or build a home made wheel the belt can work on....famous last words... :)

Update: I found some generic wheels that are "compatible" with the Razor E-100, though not an exact copy of the original. But as long as it fits the belt it'll work. They're $40.00 a piece however so I'll have to take my time in acquiring them.

John

Status Update and Schematics

Recently I was asked how I have my radio control wired up etc. so I thought I'd post a full schematic of both my electrical and radio control wiring setup for anyone else who's interested.

As I said last time, I am taking a break from building. But due to a tight budget, that break will be extended until further notice. Hopefully things will improve so I can continue work on my droid. About the only thing I can still do without spending money is finish painting the skins, however it's starting to get very cold and soon will be too cold to paint. Talk about timing.

So until later,

John

The four days of Celebration V

Photos from the entire Celebration V here.

So I know I didn't talk much about what went on Wednesday, but I was dead tired. In fact, I was dead tired every night of the con. So now I will catch you up on Wednesday afternoon and the four days of Celebration V.

When I got to the droid room Wednesday I found a mad house of droids, sets, and builders. When I asked where I should setup my droid I got "anywhere." OK. But I just knew once I did setup my droid, which has no wheels and the feet come off when you move it, I'd have to move him some where else later....and I was right. In the end we ended up moving him 3 times before finding a good place. I also got my droid room banners and they are currently setup in the droid room.

Thursday I decided to try walking to the convention center instead of waiting for the hotel's shuttle bus. Care to put money on what I'll be doing differently from now on? Not only was it hot outside, but I ended up walking to the wrong building. The OCCC is divided into two buildings: the north/south building and the west building. Celebration V is in the West building. I walked to the other one. Luckily there were shuttle buses there to take people parking there to the other building. Once I got to the droid room, I found out I had missed seeing Anthony Daniels, other wise known as C-3PO. Darn it.
After serving my shift in the room, I went to the Expedition Hall to explore the vendors and attractions. Of note was a life-size TIE Interceptor, several life-size dioramas for photo ops, the regular Jedi Training show for small children to participate it, a game of laser tag against Storm Troopers, the R2 Builder's Droid Races (Friday - Sunday), and the Celebration Store. After wandering around I went to the Celebration Store and bought a Commemorative Guide and a glass mug (pictured below).

Got Milk?

Later I visited the 501st Legion room, the Rebel Legion room, the Clone Wars Theater (which oddly enough presented every Cartoon Network show BUT The Clone Wars), and the Fan Film Theater (which did live up to its name).
Later, I returned the droid room for my second shift of the day to closing. Before anyone left, an announcement was made to be back first thing in the morning because "he" was coming. Hmm. I wonder who "he" could be? I then went to the fan film awards to see who won what. However, I was surprised to discover that the award show ended after the shuttle buses stop for the night. So of course, I had to walk all the way back to the Hotel. Only a 15-20 minute walk, but it was dark, hot, and I was only guessing where I had to go. Luckily I found my way with no problem.

Friday I used the shuttle bus and arrived at the room around 8am (too early for me). A half-hour later "he" arrived....Jedi Master George Lucas himself. This makes the second time he has visited our display (1st at C3). He went around the room, took special note of a few droids he really liked, and left. If that wasn't enough, a short time later Ben Burtt arrived to tour our room. For the un-initiated, Ben Burtt was the original sound designer for Star Wars and is responsible for creating R2-D2's voice. He spent some time talking with us about designing R2's voice and other related things.
After I got out of the room, I went to get in line to see the Mark Hamill interview, but found a line wrapping the entire fourth floor twice. So instead, I went to the Exhibition Hall and bought a book, The Fate of the Jedi: Allies. I've been waiting for this book. The booth I bought it at told me the authors of the Fate of the Jedi series would be signing autographs later that day, so I wandered around for a short while then returned to get my book signed. With that done, I then got in line for a Clone Wars panel, hoping to see some sneak peeks of season 3. No footage was shown at this panel, but I did here some great stories from the supervising director, Dave Filoni. He talked about what he thought the series was going to be like, a group of travelers going from one adventure to the next during the clone wars with few appearances by main movie characters. But he learns very quickly that GL has a different "point of view." Gl said in their first meeting that Anakin was going to have a padawan, to which Dave replied, "but George, Anakin doesn't have a padawan" (considering episode 3). GL looks at him and then says, "so Anakin is going to have a padawan...." Dave Filoni also has a hard time resisting children's questions, even if he can't answer the question, which we saw first hand. He swears parents send their kinds to him with these spoiler questions on purpose.
After the panel, I had to return to the droid room, after which I returned to the Hotel and crashed.

Saturday, same routine in the morning. After lunch, I searched for a vendor who has original release reprint movie posters for ESB (Empire Strikes Back), but only found miniature ones. In fact, I found only two or three vendors with movie posters and their selection was limited. Could be I waited too long and they were simply sold out of the poster I was looking for. Oh well. So instead I bought two R2-D2 action figures (one from the 1990's and one in the most recent packaging) and a star wars blueprints book: rebel edition.
Then I went and got in line for the Clone Wars season 3 panel. That was awesome! I got to see a few clips from the upcoming season and a mega trailer for it. Dave Filoni took more questions and of course another little kid asked a spoiler question. It was very funny watching Dave squirm wanting to answer but not being able to.
Later, it was back to the droid room and then back to Hotel to crash.

Sunday I spent the whole day in the droid room. At 5pm we closed the room for the last time. Our event leader gave a speech thanking all of us for our help and support. Special thanks went out to those who made special contributions such as set pieces or organizing certain displays, etc.. Then the tear down began. I boxed up R6-C9 again, loaded him into the rental car, and after helping tear down and saying good byes, I went back to the Hotel to crash for the rest of the day.

Early Monday morning I packed up everything, checked out of the Hotel, and hit the road back home. Tuesday morning same thing. Got home about 2pm that afternoon. Great to be back.

Man, I had a great time. I met a lot of cool people, saw some cool stuff, and was just geeking out the whole time. Can't wait for Celebration VI.

So what next? A vacation from droid building. I've put quite a bit of money and time into him the past few months, so I'm taking a break. But don't worry, it won't be for long. Just a couple of months maybe.

Later,
John

To C5 or Bust - day 2 cont.

I think the photo says it all. This is one of our "photo op" sets. And that's me with a R2-D2 and C-3PO replica.
I got to the convention center around 1pm. By this time the droid room was full and people and droids. I also took some video, but will wait until after I've returned home to mess with editing and uploading it.
Tomorrow is the official start of the convention and I'll be manning the droid room for the first 1.5 hours and last 1.5 hours.

John.

P.S. The Hotel in Orlando has the same pillows as the last Hotel did. Bummer.

To C5 or Bust - day 2

I am not a morning person. Got up at 4am and am now about ready to hit the road again. I didn't get very good sleep on account that the pillows at this hotel are those square shaped ones with about as much fluff as a piece of paper. Haven't they ever seen normal pillows?

Anyway, today's the day I get to meet in person all the droid building experts I've been reading about and getting all kinds of advice from.

Next postings from Orlando.

John

To C5 or Bust - day 1 cont.

Made it to Georgia in one piece. During the eight hour drive I went through two, count 'em, two rain storms. Couldn't see the car in front of me the rain was so heavy. Luckily they only lasted about ten minutes.

To beat Atlanta morning rush hour, I'll hit the road again at about 4 or 5 in the morning. Next time I post here, I'll be in Orlando geeking out at all the R2-D2's.

Until then,

John

To C5 or Bust - day 1

Well it's after 9am here. Car's packed and ready to go. I'll make an update when I get to the hotel. See you at Celebration V.

One last detail

So before R6-C9 goes anywhere, I thought it a good idea to glue the top and bottom disc and the shoulder support boards. Now he's solid.


This past week I've been working on a harness for the battery. Due to the location of the center ankle and the tilt bar attached to it I had to locate the battery in the very front of the body.
Using my handsaw, I cut out a small piece of 1/2" plywood about the same size as the battery. I made the board a little longer than needed which I adjusted later on. I then drilled four 3/8" holes and then used a 1/2" spade bit to drill a recess halfway through so the bolt heads would be flush with the surface. I am using two small pieces of "L" channel steel railing with pre-drilled holes as brackets to connect the board to the existing railing the center ankle is bolted to (exact same railing in fact).


I was going to use 3/8" bolts to connect to the ankle rails but, if you look closely in the next picture, you can see the holes don't line up on both sides. To fix this, I used 1/4" bolts with washers.


As an after thought, I decided to add a back on the battery harness to support the battery when the body is tilted back. I also screwed on some Velcro to help hold the battery in place.


In addition to the battery harness, I've still been working on the skins. I just recently got these four panels glued together.


Also, I got the power switches installed. From top left to right: Main power switch, battery meter circuit LEDs, battery meter momentary push button (you press the button to activate the LEDs to see the voltage level), bottom: Sabertooth 2X25 speed controller, SyRen 10A speed controller, speakers & C6C PS2 receiver, arduino & VMusic2.


So with all this done, though still not finished, I think R6-C9 is ready for his public debut. From this point on all work will stop and packing begin. Already I have the feet plus hardware in boxes. My next posting should be the the day I leave for Orlando (August 10th). I'm taking my laptop with me so I can give daily updates at the convention.

Until then,

John

Never Say Never - R6-C9 Standing

You know how I said last time I won't be getting R6-C9 to stand in time for the convention? Well, disregard that.

I got thinking this past week, "why not just do things the old fashioned way?" So I bought a hand saw. It's not exactly a table saw, but it works.

This is a 14-1/2" long by 1-1/4" wide by 1/8" thick steel L channel. I shall name it the "tilt support bar," or "tilt bar" for short. It's purpose is to hold the shoulder pipes that go through the body in place so the legs can be tilted back at the correct angle and stay there. I drilled four holes into it (two 3/8" and two 5/16").


I modified the center ankle to fit into the body without bumping into the PCB Tray. Then drilled two more holes (3/8") to bolt on the Tilt Bar.


In the two 5/16 holes I installed a 1-1/4" U-bolt which is what wraps around the shoulder pipe and holds it snug.


According to the Club's blueprints, an Astromech droid's legs are rotated 36 degrees back behind the body.
And now, the final result.


TADA!!!! Lookin' good!

Note that R6 is just sitting on top of the feet. I don't have them bolted on yet. To do that I need to enlarge the holes in the ankles and I absolutely need a drill press to do this to ensure the holes are kept straight.

So what's next? Good question. I have achieved my primary goal and got him standing. I might do some more painting but I think I'm done preparing R6 for Celebration 5. Only two more weeks to go.

John