Thomas' R2D2

Southern R2 Builders Banner

2009-08-10T18:55:00.003-04:00

I had this 3x8 Banner made for our group at Mini MegaCon.
It turned out pretty nice and hope everyone in the group likes the layout.
We'll have to figure out what to hang the Banner on and the best place to put it.
I hope to have the large Banner made for the Big MegaCon and maybe 1 of the side
Banners also which will be the background for Watto.

Dome Bumps

2009-08-06T17:25:00.003-04:00

I finally got them ready for use and it's nice to see them light up
for the first time.
I will use 1 of them on the side of the dome to turn on/off
the video panel.
The other 2, I'm not sure what I will do with them.

Lcd Mounted

2009-08-02T19:44:00.003-04:00

Well, It's temporally mounted in the dome. I wish my camera took better video, But it's all I have to post pics and video. I had to cut the housing on the screen down to get a better fit. The whole frame made it set back to much.
It sure looks good in person and I like it much better than the red Leds.
With alittle more work it will be a GREAT Upgrade for my dome.
I plan to wire it into 1 of the dome bump switches I have on the side
of the dome to turn it on/off.

Video Panel

2009-07-22T21:20:00.003-04:00

Here's a preview of how the side panel will work in R2's dome. My camera really did not do the screen justice, It looks allot better than this video. I'm placing red in between each picture so I don't stray to far away from the red in the real R2.
It will be a interesting addition to my R2.
Now just to get it mounted :o)

Mini MegaCon!!!!!

2009-07-22T19:56:00.002-04:00

Yep, That's wahat I said :o)
The group has been invited to Mini MegaCon in Orlando Florida.
It's on August 22nd and 23rd.
While we were at Ancient City Con here in Jacksonville, Brenda
was approached by a member of MegaCon and asked us to setup again.
I'm so glad they were impressed with our last setup and this will
give our group a chance to be together again.

So, Once we get this going I'll post some pics and video :o)

Possible Upgrade?

2009-07-19T17:06:00.002-04:00

Here's something I've been looking at for a long time.
This little picture frame displays digital pictures at random
and it was only $20.00. The displays that 4D systems run about $200.00.
This would be mounted in the dome where the red light on the side of R2
flashes when he's been supposedly damaged.
I have the red lights now, But it doesn't flash.

I took this display apart to see how it was made and it comes apart real easy.
It consists of a LCD screen, Motherboard and battery.
To mount the display I would have to make a small frame and the
display is almost the perfect size. It's the right height and only 1/8 inch
to short in width.
The Motherboard has a small ribbon to the screen and it would have to be mounted
on a styrene plate. The battery is no problem.

The major problem is the power button which is made into the side of the Motherboard. I could remove the button and solder a line so it could be
switched by the dome bump buttons I already have installed.

I'm not sure if it's worth the work, But it would be NEAT!!!
Let me know what you guys think :o)

Ancient City Con

2009-07-19T11:06:00.002-04:00

We went with the 501st to the Con here in Jacksonville and it was GREAT!!!
There was more people than I expected and a wide verity of events.

I did noticed something about R2,
The floor inside the area had carpet that was slightly padded and
R2 was having some problems moving around.
I have him wired for 12v. which makes him very smooth at takeoff and
gives him enough top end speed.
But on the carpet I had to run him full speed to move around at a good speed.
24v. would have been a better voltage and the carpet would not effect him.
But at 24v. he is very jumpy and too fast.
Not sure how to address this problem and I really don't want 24v.

Anyway, Brenda will post some pics of the event on her blog.
It was fun and next week we will be at the Football Stadium driving our
droids around just for fun.

New Banner

2009-07-16T17:47:00.002-04:00

If everyone has noticed, Brenda and I have new banners.
Jon was nice enough to make these for us and we both love them.
Thank you so much Jon!!!!!
:o)

He's up again!!!!

2009-07-12T14:35:00.003-04:00

R2 is back on his feet and we took both droids out for a drive. We have a event to go to next Saturday and I was starting to wonder if R2 would be ready, And he's ready.

Repaint

2009-07-03T14:46:00.004-04:00

I repainted the rear door due to my bad attempt to weather it.
And I added the power coupler. The coupler will need some touch up
because the tape pulled some of the blue off.

I also added another charge port inside R2.
This port charges the 2 smaller batteries that run the electronics.
I thought about doing away with these 2 batteries, But I have not had any problem
with battery life. So I'm leaving them in there.

Center Leg Complete

2009-06-29T11:35:00.003-04:00

The center leg is back together and for the 1st time,
I have the ankle cylinders mounted.
Now that this is complete, I'll move on to the next upgrade.

Small Work

2009-06-27T17:16:00.002-04:00

I bolted the dome plate into position and you can see I had to cut the center for the slip ring to fit.
I really didn't want to do this, But it works for me.

The ankle is reprimed and drying.
I did this because I eliminated 2 bolts on each side of the ankle that holds the inner plates for the center leg.
Like I said "Small Work"

More Shoulder Work

2009-06-21T17:46:00.005-04:00

The bottom picture shows the 1/2 plate with screws countersunk.
The next picture shows the 1/2 plate with all the holes cut and the
4 holes for the outer plate drilled and tapped.
Also if you can see the 2 screws on each side of the bearing screw on the top plate
which was a added bonus. Once I get my aluminum top ring and bottom ring this
frame will be very solid.
The top picture shows everything bolted and waiting for the legs to bolt.

Both sides are finished now, So I'll move on to the next upgrade.

Aluminum Shoulder

2009-06-18T16:45:00.005-04:00

The last time I drove R2, I noticed in the shoulder area he would
sway back/fourth.
I've tried all the A&A frame shoulder parts to stop the sway, But the PVC
gives too much. The A&A frame is cut to house the Satellite motors and I'm sure
this added allot of support, But if your not doing the 2-3-2 motion the PVC
is not enough for a heavy droid.
The bottom picture shows the cavity for the Satellite motor to be installed.
And this is where the trouble starts, If your not using the Satellite motor.
So what I did to solve and add allot of strength to this area was to order a
5-5/8 x 6-3/4 x 1/2 inch plate to fill this area and you can see how it fits
in the next picture. This will be bolted to the PVC inner frame around the Satellite
hole and it will be drilled for the leg bolts to connect the leg.
The next picture shows the aluminum shim I made awhile back and it will be
bolted to the thick aluminum.
You need this shim to get the legs to set at the right amount from the body.
Once I get everything together I will make another post.

In all and all, The A&A frame is a good frame for a light weight droid.
If your going to be adding allot of aluminum goodies you will have to
beef it up in certain areas.

Center Foot Painted

2009-06-16T19:50:00.002-04:00

The center foot is painted now and once it dries I can add the aluminum strips
to the front and back.
I couldn't get a real good picture because it's still wet, But you get the
main idea how the skirt looks.

One step Forward - 2 Steps Back

2009-06-14T13:07:00.005-04:00

This is another area that I found needs to be beefed up.
The aluminum plate I mounted had PVC spacers behind it and
I noticed the last time I drove R2, He was swaying in this area.
Not allot, But more than I was happy with.
So I ordered a 1/2 inch aluminum plate to fill up the area behind
my 1st aluminum plate and it will be solid all the way through to the
main frame.

Here's the Jag version of the dome plate.
And you can see it's only 1/8 inch from touching my dome motor.
This caused some new problems, I originally had some of my electronics
mounted on top of the A&A frame and the dome plate ended that idea.

Now everything is mounted to the inner back mount.
This caused allot of rewiring and I had to move a few items around.
Not bad, But it was just extra work I didn't count on.

Center Foot Primed

2009-06-13T14:15:00.002-04:00

I got the Center foot primed and ready for sanding and paint.
You can see the skirt below the foot and really gives it a nice look.

Little Amp

2009-06-09T20:00:00.002-04:00

The Ebay Amp arrived today and I connected it to a Mp3 player
and it works GREAT!!!!
It's very clear and has more output power than I need.
The next thing to do is get it mounted into R2 and connect it to
the M&A sound machine.
I'm really happy with this Amp and highly recommend it.

Center Foot Skirt

2009-06-08T19:24:00.003-04:00

I got a local welder to weld the skirt on for me today.
It's rough, But with some J.B. Weld I can work out the rough areas.
Once I get this upgrade finished, I'll be on to the next outer leg
and then the center ankle.

Leg Work

2009-06-07T14:59:00.003-04:00

If you remember I had 4 holes in the back of the outer legs that held the Boosters
in place.
These holes had caps that covered the bolts through the legs and into the Booster.

Well, They are gone now.
I puttied the holes and did away with the caps.
I'm not 100% satisfied with the work I did on the holes, But unless you hit the
light just right you can't see the spots at all.
I figured that if I needed to remove the Boosters for some reason, I could just dig
out the bolts and refix this area.
I don't ever plan to remove the Boosters unless the leg broke or something like
that happened.
All the bumps and damage that R2 will get will just be weathering :o)

Vex Periscope Lifter

2009-06-07T13:41:00.005-04:00

Here's some pictures and a couple of video of the Periscope lifter.
It works and I have plenty of adjustment points to set the Periscope
inside the dome.
The only thing is that Vex servo is loud.
It's not as loud as in the video, But it's still loud.
I'll have to see if I can find a replacement servo and not use the Vex
servo.
Anyway, It's still in the works and you can see the Jag dome plate arrived.

Email Addy's

2009-06-06T22:13:00.002-04:00

Hey Guys,
If everyone would email me thier address, I need them again.
My old comp finaly gave up and the board I bought for R2 is now my
new desktop.
I saved allot of info from the old comp, But I lost everyone's email.
If you would, send it to me again.
Thanks
Calvin

Leg Update

2009-05-31T12:56:00.006-04:00

I worked on the leg today and I managed to get the
Ankle repainted, Changed the Ankle detail parts bolts to Alen head bolts.
The bolts you get with the parts you order are Phillips head and they are very hard
to get tight. So it's a good idea to change these before you put them together.

The Booster line on the leg turned out Ok and I also repainted the leg.
The leg had a few spots that the styrene joints showed, So I fixed it before I repainted.
Still more to do to this leg, But that's the next post.

Parts Ordered

2009-05-28T21:00:00.005-04:00

I have the Jag version of the dome plate on order and I found
this little Amplifier on Ebay.
The Amp will give me more than enough power (10 watts per channel)
to run the M&A sound system.
The best part is the Amp has a pin port and all I will have to do is connect
the pin from the M&A to the Amp and connect 12v.
Connect the speakers and I should have sound.

More Line Work

2009-05-25T18:18:00.002-04:00

I used a small file that fits in the Booster Line on the Booster.
I cut the leg until it matched the line from the Booster.
I now the pic makes it look rough and it is still alittle rough,
But the major cutting is done now and all I need to do is alittle
sanding and get it ready for paint.