Short video compilation of Artoo dancing with the children at Maker Faire.

Here’s some highlights from Maker Faire, the complete album can be found here.

Friday’s Education Day

Saturday

Sunday

Wall-E who?

Jedi or Jawa? You decide.

Danger R2-D2!!

Artoo at the Star Wars Button Making workshop with Bonnie Burton

Big thanks to Vern from Nuts and Volts Magazine for providing copies of Servo and Nuts and volts Magazines where the Builders Club was recent features.

I’ve had a crazy couple of days at Maker Faire, and we still have one more day to go. I’ll be posting a full update and photos tomorrow, but just had to post this tonight.

We won a Maker Faire Editor’s Choice award for our creations and participation. This is a great honor and surprised considering the 100’s of cool Makers and their creations at the event.

Make Faire is a production of Make: Magazine, which the R2 Builders Club was featured in a few years ago, and is held every year in San Mateo, California, with in excess of 45,000 people in attendance.

Maker Faire is this weekend and I’ve had a fun week getting ready. I’ve cleaned up and fixed a bunch of stuff that have been bugging me, and added a few new features.

Today, Friday is Education Day so I’ll be heading out in about an hour with Steve for a day of special programming targeted at school students.

On Saturday, in addition to the R2 Builders (now dubbed R2 Makers for the weekend), there will be a few other Star Wars related exhibits at the faire.

Bonnie Burton from LucasFilm will be presenting Star Wars Crafts: Marble Magnets

and my friend Richard Jacobsen, prop maker extraordinaire, will be showing you how to Build Your Own Vacuum Forming Machine. So if you’ve wondered how those cool Stormtrooper costumers are made – this is the thing to see.

Matthew Carauddo will be showing off his Crystal Focus LED “lightsaber” Project.

We’ll be based in the main Expo Hall (exhibit #1075), but watch for us through the faire.

For the full schedule click here.

Summary of work and posts for April 2008

• Holo Projector Servo Test
• Mounting Dome Electronics
• Slip ring servo board brackets
• A look inside the failed Pittman gearbox
• Slip Ring Servo Test
• New R2 Event Banner
• More WonderCon Videos
• Dead Pittman Motor
• Electrical System Update
• New Photos
• Lucile Packard Hospital Visit
• Slip Ring Spin Test
• New Battery Holder
• Slip Ring – Cutting the Frame
• Slip Ring Update
• Bay Area Builders T-Shirts
• Front Vent Surrounds Surround

I’m definitely getting into the fun part of the project. I spent part of the evening trying to add a servo to the front holo projector. It was a little more tricky than I thought it was going to be. I’d seen photos and vaguely remember a setup on one of the tables at C4, but until tonight I didn’t understood the nuances of the angles and forces need to move something with a servo, so it was frustrating and fun at the same time.

Most people seem to use the same basic method to move pie panels, doors, holo projectors etc. And that’s to convert servo rotation into a linear movement using a push rod attached to the servo horn.

I’d bought some random mini servos from Tower Hobbies a while ago (Hi-Tec HS-55), and a push rod/linkage assembly from ebay. Problem was the servo was too small to fit the rod attachments. I managed to improvise and this is what I finally came up with

Please ignore the kinks in the rod, it really should be straight, but I’d tried to copy what I’d seen at C4 and got it totally wrong 😀

If I was to do this again I’d probably skip the pre-made assemble and make something in acrylic and parts from the local hardware store.

I also created a short video to summaries and demo the new setup.

As I explain in the video it’s not perfect, and I need to affix the servo more permantely to the dome rather than using velcro and I’m not entirely confident the linkage to the back of the HP will last very long.

The good news the Hi-Tec servo is definitely powerful enough to move the HP and will probably work for the pie panels as well.

I also need to decide if I’m going to add some code to my micro-controller to automate random movement.

See Also:

• Slip Ring Servo Test

I was getting tired of my disorganized electronics in the dome, so I made this little holder that mounts everything cleanly and is easily removed.

It’s just a piece of acrylic bent into a U-shape with an extra L-shaped shelf glued in the middle.

The various electronic boards are velcro’d into place for easy removal and the whole thing attaches to one of the dome ring supports.

Top: Syren10 Speed Controller (Dome Periscope), 12V/24V DC/DC Power Converter
Middle: Power Distribution Board
Bottom: 12 Channel RF Receiver

I secure the wires that run up to the dome to make sure I don’t accidentally pull everything off when the dome is removed

Please ignore the 16 gauge wire as well, I was running short of something lighter but didn’t want to make a special trip to the store.

See also:

• Variable 12-24V Converter

I added some support brackets to the slip ring servo boards. Nothing fancy just a small piece of extruded aluminum with a few holes in it.

I made them slightly longer than the boards to allow extra holes for mount.