Star Wars Nite at Disneyland

Tonight was a special opportunity for R2, as he got to entertain guests at Disneyland for their first ever Star Wars Nite. We were joined by fifteen other droids (sixteen counting a mouse droid), along with their builders and wranglers. Mike Senna and William Miyamoto were also in the park, on their secret missions.



Our call time was 6:00pm, so I went straight from work to Disneyland, and arrived right on time.

We gathered in a visitor parking lot where we unloaded our droids and secured them to wooden, wheeled platforms, in preparation for loading onto a box truck.



We loaded the droids onto the truck and then ratchet-strapped the platforms to the inside attachment points.



Sixteen droids + 1 mouse droid ready for transport to the Disneyland backlot.



We boarded a shuttle and followed the box truck to our staging area in the backlot. Once we were in the backlot area we were not allowed to take pictures.

In the meantime we unloaded our droids from the truck, and stored our toolboxes and gear in a conference room nearby where we were to appear.

At 9:30pm we made our entrance into Disneyland, and were escorted over to the fire station on Main Street USA. It goes without saying that it didn't take long for a crowd to gather for pictures.



Around 9:45pm they had a Star Wars-themed fireworks show. Unfortunately the shops mostly obstructed our view.




We were scheduled to go until 1:00am(!), so we kept on entertaining the crowd.





At midnight the Star Wars Costume clubs (501st Legion, Rebel Legion, Mandalorian Mercs and possibly others) had a parade, and we lined up to greet them at the end.






Finally, at 1:00am it was time to wrap up. We were escorted out (in a good way), and we were done with our appearance. After returning our droids to the backstage area, we returned to the conference room to gather our belongings, and then start packing up.

The droids were secured back to their carts, and the carts loaded and ratchet-strapped onto the truck once again for the return drive to the visitor parking lot.

By the time we got to the lot it was already 2:00am, and we unloaded the box truck and loaded our droids into our vehicles for the drive home.

Two and a half hours into the new day and I've already burned 90 calories! Time to close up the Droidmobile and head home.



Suffice it to say my head didn't hit the pillow until after 3:00am, but it was well worth it. Everyone had a great time and I hope we get to do this again in the future. Some people may get to do it sooner than later.

The full photoset is here.

UCI NICU Reunion Carnival

Today R2 joined Mike and Amy Senna with BB-8, and a number of characters from the Star Wars and Marvel universes to welcome former patients to the University of California Irvine Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit's Reunion Carnival. As usual with these things, no pictures with the former patients, but there were plenty of people in attendance.



We found a shady spot for photos, and were joined by our two other Star Wars characters, Rey (Liz Perales) and Kanan (Sal Perales).



We were also joined by a pony. Fortunately, a continent pony.



Mike Senna's BB-8 gives my droid the thumb's down. What does he know.



We also did photo ops with the other characters (and the continent pony), a few of which are represented here.



It was a good visit for a good cause, and I hope to do similar events soon.

Updated Speed Controller

After over 10 years on the Vantec RDFR23, I've decided to move on to the Sabertooth 2x32 speed controller from Dimension Engineering. Why? No, the Vantec did not die, but it is older technology, and I have seen some peculiar behavior off and on, so I decided it was time to make a change.

Here's the Sabertooth 2x32 out of the box. 2x32 means it controls two motors continuously at 32 amperes.



Dimension Engineering recommends using standoffs when mounting the speed controller to wood for ventilation, so I pulled out the old Vantec speed controller and used its mounting bracket for guidance on making a new one from PVC for the Sabertooth.



I used the mounting holes on the 2x32 itself as a template for drilling the holes in the PVC. The user manual provides a template to print, but my printer wasn't calibrated accurately enough to use it.



Speed controller mounted to PVC with #4 machine screws.



And finally, the PVC is screwed down to the wooden frame. Ignore the messy wiring. I know I do.



I ran into a little trouble when I used the 0v and 5v lines coming out of 2x32 to power my receiver, I think it created a ground loop with my dome and sound automation circuit that Mike Senna helped me to troubleshoot. I unplugged those wires and used the battery elimination circuit to power the receiver that I used previously, and I *think* that eliminated the problem, but I will keep an eye on it.

Wondercon 2018 - Day 3

Today was the third and final day of Wondercon, in the Anaheim Convention Center.

This time it was my turn for donut duty. You could say I'm one donut short of a dozen.



While it was early and before it got too crowded, we decided to do a mouse droid excursion around the convention center.



We ran into these guys.



We returned to the booth, where we had a little of everything.




Unlike the bird that visited the booth yesterday, this porg did not poop on my droid. Given his size, that was probably for the best.



Neither did the wampa. Same sentiment applies.



At 1:00pm I was a panelist on Mark Chu Lin's "Causeplay: A Hobby in Service to Others" panel, where we discussed charitable appearances and hospital visits.

In the afternoon, a bunch of us drove our droids through the convention center and out to the lobby for photos. We made a few stops along the way.




We wrapped up with a droid group photo. There's also one with the builders, but it was taken on William's phone. Hopefully it's out there somewhere.



At 5:00pm we packed up and headed out. I was pretty exhausted, but it's always great seeing everyone, and I look forward to the next one.

Wondercon 2018 - Day 2

Today was day #2 at Wondercon in Anaheim, CA.

We always start the day off right with a well-balanced breakfast (glazed/sugar/sprinkles/plain).



It wasn't long after the 10:00am official show opening that people made their way to the back of the convention hall where our booth was.



A little birdie visited our booth. The owner said he's 6 months old and well trained. And to answer your question, yes, he did. Apparently he wasn't fully trained. :/



We took some of the droids down to the lobby where they posed for photos. I don't remember R2 ever towering over the other droids before.



The droids joined in for a huge group picture with Star Wars costumers, both members of clubs and attendees.



Meanwhile, back at the booth, Chewie cruised on by in the Falcon.



The booth itself was its usual hive of activity.




William debuted his new Predator costume. Now he can roam around with his Predator kids.



At 7:00pm we wrapped up, pretty tired, but geared up for one more day tomorrow.

Wondercon 2018 - Day 1

Well, it's been a while, but R2 finally saw the light of day for the first time in 2018. Well, he almost did. Wondercon 2018 kicked off in Anaheim today, but since I had to work, I didn't arrive until almost 6:00pm, in time to moderate our droid building panel. My mouse droid made it out of the car, but R2 will have to wait until tomorrow.

In the meantime, I visited our booth to see what was going on.




A short while later, we were off to our panel. Our panel was well-attended, and we had Cary Christie and Aaron Lane demonstrate their BB-8s in action as well. As usual, we had lots laughs (mostly at each others' expense), and the everyone seemed to enjoy the session.






Day 1 is in the books, we'll gear up for another full day tomorrow.