Yet Another Lucasfilm Shoot

It never gets old.

Today, R2 participated in another video shoot for Lucasfilm, this time at Smashbox Studios in Hollywood, CA. As usual, I can't be specific as to what the shoot was for, or when it will air. Once it does air (and it sounds like it will be in the reasonable-future), I can share a lot more pictures and information.



I got up at 4:55am for the 8:00am call time on Stage 1. With a 50 mile drive through Southern California traffic, you never know how long the commute will take. I arrived an hour early.



Today was a case of an eight hour day for 20 minutes of shooting at the end of the day. Of that 20 minutes, I suspect that R2 will appear for less than five seconds of the resulting video. Thus, R2 spent the vast majority of the day in his dressing room, standing by.



Once R2 was called on the set, he made friends with one of the video editing bays.



This was a green-screen set, and the shots involving R2 were either over-the-shoulder, or profile shots.




Once we were done shooting, many of the crew took pictures with R2.



At 6:00pm, we wrapped up. I loaded R2 into the Droidmobile, and made the 2-hour commute home in rush hour traffic. (Yum.)



As I say, I'll have a lot more to share once this airs.

More Work on Back Door Mounting Pieces

Tonight I continued work on the back door mounting pieces.

The first thing I needed to do was tape the back door in place. I carefully lined it up to where it should be, and taped it down with the blue painter's tape.



One thing I realized is that the pieces that I cut that get glued to the door won't sit flush without some work. The radial angle of the ribs requires some sanding.



I actually cranked out the math, and marked where to sand.



After a little while, I had the blocks sanded.



The fit is better on both sides now.



Next, I needed to drill matching holes that will meet up with the steel dowel pins and magnets. This isn't as bad as it looks, I'm merely using the top piece as a template of where to drill the middle piece for the steel dowel pin. I lightly spun the drill chuck by hand to make a mark.




I drilled the 1/8" wide hole, 3/8" deep on both door pieces.



The steel dowel pin can now match the hole on the piece that gets attached to the frame.




Then, I needed to match the magnet holes on the frame pieces with holes that need to be drilled for matching screw heads. I placed cross-hair marks at 90 degree angles that help show where the center of the hole is.



With the steel pin locking the two pieces of wood together, I translated the markings from one piece of wood to the other.



With the cross-hairs as my guide, I drilled and countersunk the hole for the screw that will attract the magnet.



That's as far as I got tonight. The magnets and screw heads should line up, as should the steel dowel pins and their corresponding holes.



I still need to cut the screws down to size (they stick out of the back), and then I can start gluing the door pieces to the inside of the door.

Droid #2 Part Count

Here it is, the posting for what I believe to be the final part count for droid #2. If I discover any errors or omissions, I'll come back and fix this posting.

I counted parts as follows: For those parts that I built from scratch, every constituent part that went into the whole counts as an individual item. For example, if each leg is made from 5 layers of plywood, then that counts as 5 parts per leg. However, if I purchased a part that was partially or completely assembled, then I only counted the number of parts as they arrived to me. For example, the Ben and Jason front logics are made from many parts, but I count them as 2 (top and bottom).

The part count does not list any paint, although I went through many, many cans. Nor does the part count list wood glue, though I applied a bunch for the wooden frame, legs, horseshoes, etc. Same with silicone, CA glue, and PVC glue. I counted small amounts of tape here and there (LDP, front vents), although I skipped the VHB tape that I used to attach the dome panels.

So, the final part count total is.... 1,470. I was surprised at how high the total ended up being. I thought it might hit 1,000, but not this high. I know for a fact that droid #1 has many more parts, as I did more scratch-building (the foot shells especially), and there are more electronics in it. Droid #1 probably has upward of 1,700 individual parts.

So here's the list, in all it's glory. Scroll through and double-check it for me. (Unfortunately, scrolling through the spreadsheet may not be supported on some mobile browsers.)

Started Working on Back Door Holders

Today I started working on the pieces of plywood that I plan to use to help hold the back door in place on droid #2. On droid #1 I use screws, but I'm going to give this alternate approach a try first.

First, I cut a couple of 1" square segments of 1/2" spare Baltic birth. These will be glued onto the back panel.



I then sanded one side to match the profile of the curve of the back door, using an old scrap piece from the skins.



The curve is subtle, but it's there at the top.



Next, I cut four more 1" square segments from the same 1/2" Baltic birch. These will be attached to the frame, and will hold the rare earth magnets.



I drilled the holes for the 8mm-diamter, 3mm-tall magnets, using a 5/8" drill bit.



A loose fit show that the magnet fits in just right.



I also drilled and countersunk holes for the screws that I will use to attach the four segments to the frame.



Finally, I drilled 1/8" diameter, 3/8" deep holes into the two bottom segments that will receive the steel dowel pins that will be glued into the segments that will be attached to the back door.



The idea is that the segment on the right will be attached to the frame, and house a rare earth magnet and the hole for the steel dowel pin. The segment on the left will be attached to the door, and house a magnetically attractive screw head, and the steel dowel pin. Two more screw-head-and-magnet pairs at the top of the door and frame will help keep the door in place. At least, that's the idea.



This is as far as I got today. Nothing has been attached to the door or frame yet.



Next up, I need to tape the door tight to the droid, and start marking where attach these wooden segments.

Finished & Glued In Ankle Brackets

See? I told ya I wasn't quite done with droid #2.

One of the few remaining tasks was to finish up the ankle brackets. The backing strip on the right bracket fits fine.



The backing strip on the left, however, doesn't fit quite right. This is due to a combination of the strip not being cut perfectly straight, and the main body of the bracket not sitting deep enough against the booster cover and leg.



I sanded the backing strip to be straight.



I also sanded some of the inner perimeter of the main bracket piece, so that it can fit more snugly around the booster cover and leg.



I cleaned up the dust, and glued the backing strips in place, using Testors model glue.



A toothpick helps clean the excess glue.



The fit on the left leg is better. I didn't noticed that I scuffed a little of the aluminum paint on the back of the strip, I'll probably touch that up with a brush shortly.



All that's left is installation of the back door and rear power coupler. (The to-do ankle locks don't count, as I don't consider them an official part of the droid.)

Over 70,000 Served

We passed another multiple of 10,000 visits today: 70,000. Congratulations go to someone in Colorado who inadvertently stumbled across this site via Google, while searching for an "industrial l-bracket." Too funny.



Time to update the stats.

It took 1 year, 10 months and 24 days to get to 10,000. It took another 1 year and 17 days to get to 20,000. It took another 11 months and 19 days to get to 30,000 visits. It only took another 7 months and 15 days to get to 40,000. It took an additional 5 months and 1 week to get to 50,000. Slowing down, it took an additional 6 months and two days to get to 60,000. Finally, it took almost exactly 5 more months to get to 70,000. We picked up the pace again! Good job, give yourself a pat on the back, and treat yourself to something nice.



Thanks as always for all the visits!

Tested Repaired Vantec Speed Controller

Back on May 14th, I had shown Matthew Henricks my failed Vantec RDFR23 speed controller. He thought the guys where he works at Orthodyne Electronics might be able to repair it, provided I funded a few replacement parts (H-bridges and capacitors). The other day I got the repaired speed controller back from Matthew.



I swapped out the speed controller I've been using since that time with the repaired one, temporarily making my messy wiring even messier.



With the foot motors unplugged, I pressed the stick on the transmitter and measured the voltage on the signals to each foot. It measured a nice, 12+ volts. Prior to the repair, I was only getting a maximum of five volts on one of the feet. (Try taking a picture while holding two leads on a multimeter, a camera, and moving the stick on a transmitter.)



Next, I hooked up the feet, and tried out driving the droid. Everything worked during the few minutes I drove it in the confined space of my entryway.

I took the repaired speed controller back out and swapped back in the other one, and closed up the droid. I will keep this repaired speed controller as either a backup for droid #1, or perhaps as a primary for droid #2, when he gets the R/C treatment.

Thanks Matthew and to your coworkers!

Finished U-Bolt Replacement Work

Tonight I wrapped up replacing the U-bolt that goes around the gas pipe on droid #2.

First, I finished cutting the notches that help with traction around the pipe.



Then, I pulled out the vertical rail, along with the old U-bolt, so that I could hack it off.



Unfortunately, this was the only way to remove the bolt. That nut just would not come off.



I then successfully installed the new U-bolt, along with the vertical rail. The legs are cut shorter on the bolt so that the electronics panel will clear it, and so a socket wrench can fit it. I will eventually file a flat spot on the pipe to help lock in the 36 degree angle at which R2 leans.



I also fixed another minor problem. When I installed the small block of wood that holds the roller switch that detects when the dome is centered, the drywall screws punched through the underside of the top plate of the frame, leaving a bit of a mess.




I removed the screws and cut them down a little. Those drywall screws are tough!



I reinstalled the shorter screws, cleaned up the wood splinters on the underside of the top plate of the frame, and used a black marker to conceal the area.



Still a few minor things left to do on droid #2.