The WonderCon schedule is now online. Our panel is listed about half way down, unfortunately we’re up against Disney/Pixar and Beowulf

1:30-2:30 R2-D2 Droid Building Basics – Come meet local builders who will share their experiences and demonstrate working droids. Topics range from materials, tools needed, basic electronics and radio control information to make your own R2 come to life! This panel sponsored by the R2 Builders Club. Room 236/238

If you’re planning on attending, please let me know.

Got myself a new little gizmo for R2 today. It’s a small 75Mhz RC frequency scanner that I’ve dubbed “droid caller”. It allows me to make sure the frequency I’m using isn’t already taken. It was only $10, and I think it’s worth the investment.

I’ve taken Artoo to a couple of events now where there’s been a bunch of different bots running around. Most have been well organized with a check-out system for frequencies, but at one I did get a few glitches which I suspect was a conflict with another RC unit.

I’m hoping this device may save me some time troubleshooting problems in the field.

This is short video of Gary Weaver’s aluminum R2 that inspired so many of to start building. Someone posted the videos on the Builders Group today, and I thought I’d pulled together this little montage.

It may not seem that impressive today as droids are a dim a dozen, but this was built many years ago and he helped pioneered the way for all us aluminum junkies. I can clearly remember Gary posting regular updates on the Replica Prop Forum and thinking to myself that I’d never have the patients, the skils or the money to pull something like that off 🙂

Here’s a great video by Mike Senna on how to pick and fit castors for your center foot.

I’m currently using omni-balls, but I may switch them out soon.

See also

• Proctor Glove Wheel Casters

Believe it or not I am still alive and working on Artoo. I’ve had an incredibly hectic couple of weeks, but I’ve still been able to fit in some building here and there. Unfortunately, I’ve not had time to blog the progress, the good news is I have been taking photos so hopefully I can go back and post what I’ve missed later. WonderCon is also coming up in two weeks and I’m rushing to get Artoo back together and presentable.

Most of the work this last week has been working on the electronics and finishing the skins, like attaching the small detail pieces, doors, panels etc. I’ve only got a few more bits to go and he’s looking really good.

The panels and inserts I simply attached with silicon. Nothing fancy, just held in place with tape while it dried over night.

Some people use epoxy to fix the rear panels just in case they decide to collect signatures, but I really don’t care for signatures (nor epoxy) and this is a much cleaner/quicker method for me at least.

I did get one door hinged, the one I’ll be using to access the on/off switch and charging port. Like a lot of builders, I had a lot trouble getting the Robart to work correctly. In the end I left the hinge in the default setup as suggested by the manufacturer, but ended up using some spacers to lift the hinge away from the skin/door slightly. I’ll try and take some better pictures and detail how I add hinges to the remaining doors.

To secure the door closed I attached a magnet and metal stop for it to hold on to.

I also added a small warning sign to the inside of the door. It’s my interpretation of the one seen in ROTJ where Artoo helps free Leia from the chains.

One of the issues I’ve had is that the back door doesn’t fit well. I’ve been avoiding it, but I would like to have it attached for WonderCon. The problem is the skins don’t quite wrap around the frame snuggly, which leaves the back opening wider than it should be and the door has more of a gap around it than I’d like. I’ve still going some tweaking but I think I may have to live with it for now.

This is the correct gap at the top of the door

I now need to remove the skirt and bottom ring to drill and tap some holes to attach the octagon ports and power couplers. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to disassemble the frame for a while.