Wrapped Up Work on Making Droid #2 Mobile

Time's up! Tools down.

Today was the last day I had to work on getting droid #2 mobile in time for Wondercon, which starts tomorrow and runs through the weekend. I plan to bring droid #1 to the con on Friday, and then droid #2 will join him on Saturday for the day. (I can only transport one droid at a time.) Sunday I just plan to have droid #1 again.

I discovered I did indeed need to file a flat spot on the gas pipe that connects the legs, where the vertical bar that enforces the 36 degree lean is U-bolted. Otherwise, R2 could do the splits while driving backward if the center foot gets bogged down.

I marked where to grind the flat spot.



I used my new Dremel with a grinding attachment to flatten the area.




When I was done, I bolted the vertical rail down tight. I hope I removed enough material for the rail to rest nice and flat.



Next, I found that the front screw that helps secure the right battery box was obscured by the motor. I tried relocating where it resides, but even then the motor obscured it. This is a problem I will need to resolve later.



I also found that the drive chain was too tight on both drivetrains, so I had to remove them and adjust the motor mounts a bit to add some slack. I went through about 20 iterations of this, it took forever.



I also did lots of other miscellaneous stuff I can't even recall now. But the bottom line is, I think droid #2 is ready to drive at Wondercon on Saturday! At least, I hope so.



Concerns I have: I may need to file a deeper flat spot on the gas pipe; I need to fix the right battery box so the frontmost screw securing it down is accessible; and I hope that I can get used to the Stealth Controller transmitters. And my biggest concern: Wondercon shorts us on badges and I have 24 angry people ready to beat me up.