R2 Gone

It didn't take long for R2 to be scattered. I don't think the Jawa's could have done it as fast. All parts are sold and shipped. There a small place in the office next to the B9 that was once the space of little R2. snif snif...

Robot and Droid News

I must apologize for the lack of posting but it was necessary. For the last few months I have had some guilty feelings about building the R2. The B9 has some system upgrades coming up and there are more than a couple projects around the house I have been putting off until he is finished. It's been three years and I'm starting another Robot Project before those are done? I guess it's time to clear the list. On november 24th I sold all of the R2 parts I had, and they were many, to finance the other projects. The R2 Project wasn't abandoned just postponed.The B9 is getting those upgraded parts and I hope to have most of them installed by RoboCon 2009 in April.

Halloween!!

The Robot had a busy schedule this Halloween. He was a big hit where I work and and even bigger hit at the house. For the first time in 75 years here in Denver it was warm for Halloween. Usually it's hoovering around 20 degrees with either snow or rain but it was shirt sleeves last night! We even had a couple Police Officers that were patrolling the neighborhood stop by and came out to talk with me about the Robot. One little 4-5 year old kid that came for his loot looked at the officer with a critical eye for a minute and then told the Officer he had a really cool costume! I thought the parents were going to faint. That was the AFV moment of the night. I gave the Officers some candy to give to all the little kids that were there and the Officers talked with all of them for a couple of minutes then left. By 7:00pm the word must have got out because the visitors were arriving in groups of 10 or more. The little kids would sit down in front of the Robot and ask me to "make him talk". The parents asked if I would hire the Robot out for babysitting because the kids just sat there not moving and watched him. When the parents wanted to go the kids didn't want to leave! One couple came back and said their three boys begged to see the Robot one more time before they went home. Another couple that came the husband said he had met me while I was building the Robot in the summer of 2005 and shortly after that they moved from the area. They came back to visit with friends and stopped by to see if I had finished him. They were all amazed by his size and impressed when he could carry on a conversation with them thanks to the I-B9 Software. Here are some pictures of both events. Unfortunately I couldn't get pictures of the crowds because I was busy running the Robot and making him talk! I need to hire a photographer. I can't wait to get the R2-D2 finished for next year!

The Robot at work.






The entire Facilities Dept.




The Robot at the house waiting to entertain the Trick or Treaters.

The Star Wars Droid R2-D2 Project Launches Nov 1st

The R2-D2 Project is getting ready to launch on November 1. The goal is to have him ready and functioning by September 2009. I have about 90% of the parts required and will build him first before painting. Once everything but the electrical is completed he will be disassemble and painted then re-assembled and the electronics installed. Hopefully I can have him ready to go to his first public showing at Mountain-Con05 held in Utah next September. Here are just a few pictures of him in pieces. He is mostly steel and aluminum and will have most of the gizmo's seen in the movies.

The Robot is becoming quite a celebrity lately with fans coming over almost weekly to see him. So with all the fans dropping by he asked for, and received, some new space in the office. He was in a corner where he was cramped and could barely rotate. His fans also complained that it was hard to get a good picture with him. So as of this past Saturday his display area has been moved towards the center of the office and increased to about 60sf.

He has a very busy week this week starting on Thursday. A Boy Scout Troop will be over to see him and get pictures. They are learning and building robots for scouting activity. Their Scoutmaster heard about him and when he asked the boys, they all voted to spend their night here with Robot. Then early Friday morning the Robot will be making another all day appearance where I work. He was requested to be the Guest Star by the big kids, again. Then Friday night he will be entertaining the Trick-or-Treaters and helping his roommate "The BatMan" pass out his Bat-Candy for Halloween. For the past few weeks the kids and their parents have been asking if he was going to be out this year. Last year he was in pieces getting some systems upgrades. With all these requests for appearances he has been practicing several of his impressions of other famous Robots for his many varied fans. Should be a fun week!

MountainCon 4 Pictures

My Mom thinks the Robot is COOL.

Me and the Grandkids. Pheobe, Gavin and the twins, Hope and Faith.

My Son and his girlfriend. She loves the Robot! Lance isn't too happy about it though.

Actress from Deep Space 9, Penny Johnson Jerald and the Robot She was so impressed with the Robots that she came to see them twice and the second time we got her to pose with them. Very nice lady.

Dr Who Learning about Robots

Darth Vader and Crew

MountainCon 4 in Layton, Utah

Wow, It's almost October!! I have been so busy with preparing the B9 for MountainCon and dealing with some other happenings in real life that it's been a long time since I last posted. Sorry about that. Unfortunately the internal leg supports didn't get completed in time so the Robot's new rubber legs couldn't be installed but several other systems got upgraded. MountainCon 4 is over and it was a blast. Greg and I drove to Utah to attend the convention and display our B9 Robots. We were given tables in the Lobby of the Davis Convention Center and we were suprised to find that R2Builders Club member Lynelle Phillips from Denver had brought her partially completed R2 Astromech Droid and was set up next to us! We were all setup right next to the life size Stargate and it was a beautifull piece of work that greeted fans when they walked in the door. We were very busy as the Robots were a big hit and well remembered from the TV Series. Unfortunately Mark Goddard had to cancel due to personal reasons, but we carried on and had fun anyway. Met a lot of nice fans at this convention and the MountainCon Staff was a pleasure to work with. On Sunday we moved the Robots to the entry of the Stargate and more than a few people came and had their picture taken with the Robots. We had a great time and besides a few minor glitches.the Robots performed great and entertained everyone. Greg and hi Robot even made the front page of the local newspaper!

Robot's New Rubber Legs

Christmas in July. On Thursday, July 10 I received the rubber legs for the Robot. They are made from 100% Silicone Rubber with a 100 year lifetime. I installed them on the treads temporarily so i can measure the height for the steel supports.

Leo and B9-Leo Meet

I had my son and his family in for a visit this past week. I got to visit with my 3 and a half year old Grandson for the first time since he was about 6 months old. He is named, Leo, after my Father as is my Robot. Leo loved the Robot and would want to go see him and talk to him all the time. When I asked if he wanted have his picture taken with the Robot and said "Sure". When I told him to hold the Robots hand he was so excited!

The TV Robot in the Sci-Fi Museum in Seattle

I was at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle Washington on June 11. I was there to see the 40 year old Lost in Space Robot that was used on the TV Series. I finally got to see the real Robot, well what's left of him anyways. Unfortunately I don't think it is much since a lot of him was discarded after the series was cancelled. The one thing that bothers me is I couldn't take any pictures. I've taken pictures of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris but they won't let you take pictures in the Sci-Fi Museum. Figure that out. But I fulfilled a promise I made to myself as a kid, that one day I'd look upon the real Robot. I finally did.


Gort from Forbidden Planet

Future Robot Builder

Leo, my Grandson is shaping up to be a future Robot Builder. This is his favorite shirt his Dad made him. It the artwork for RoboCon 2008 only everything is put on the front so he can see it. When they come up in June Leo will help me assemble the R2 Frame.

May 17- Saturday Day Two of the Robot Build-Off

We were at Jerry's early today to make sure we didn't miss anything. Wayne showed up with his R2 and some building actually got started. Three R2 frames, Wayne was replacing his Omniballs for casters on his R2's Front Foot. Travis worked on his B9's bubble and everyone got helped. It was great. After lunch we all went over to North Dallas CNC Machine Shop to see the setup and drool over the machined parts. James opened his shop and he had some great machined parts all lined up for inspection. After about an hour we all went back to Jerry's and continued building. Jerry didn't make t-shirts, but he did do something just as unique. Everyone got a machined plastic coaster with a cork insert that had either B9 or R2 image on it. With the R2 Frames finished, the bubble mounted, the caster on it was time for dinner. Jerry had it catered from Sonny Bryan's and it was some great Texas BBQ.

Everyone just kind of visited, swapped stories, checked out Jerry's toys again and basically just talked robots and droids.

I can't wait for next year. I will have my Robot and Droid here as well getting some upgraded parts.

Thanks Jerry for putting this together! See you at RoboCon in April 09!!


Wayne's R2













One of the R2 Frames being assembled









North Dallas CNC Machine Shop...machined aluminum...nice. I just couldn't resist it and bought one of the dome wheels with a motor bracket.









Jerry's very cool coaster......

May 16- Friday Day One of Robot Build Off

Jerry's house was easy to spot when I turned on to his street. There was a B9 Robot Standee on his porch and several cars parked in front. When I walked up the driveway and into the garage area it look like I walked on the backlot lot of a Sci Fi movie! Robots and parts were everywhere! WAY COOL!!! There were three B9's standing together, the Battle Droid standing Guard looked like he would shoot you with his weapon if you tried to take something. There was a pitdroid taking a break talking to an R2 unit. There were a couple of mouse droids next to an R5 head on a table. An unfinished C3PO was still in the box but was soon on a table looking woefully undressed with no gold plating. Which Jerry will hopfully remedy that by the next build-Off in 2009. There where 7 tables with hundreds of parts for the different Robot projects Jerry has going. In his house is a very nice Star Wars lightsaber collection, laser rifles, Starship Models, more parts and a Robby Robot. Information overload!!!

This covers about half of what's outside.....






Jerry
demonstrating
his B9 Bowing









Bob's Robot bending....backwards. It can also bend forward and squat! Here's how Bob does it...two motorized sissor jacks.







Robby

The Great Texas B9 Build-Off

What a BLAST Jerry's Great Texas B9 Robot Build-Off was. I got to meet so very many talented and fun builders not only the B9 Builders Club but in the R2 Builders Club and the Dallas Personal Robotics Club. The event started at noon on Friday May 16th thru Sunday May 18. Unfortunately I had to catch a flight back to Denver Sunday morning and couldn't attend the Sunday activities. Here are a few of pictures from the event then I'll detail Friday and
Saturday activities on separate postings....


Here's Wayne replacing the omni balls for casters in his R2's front foot.







One of three aluminums frames made by JAG that were built on Saturday..






Here's me with Phil's beautiful Jupiter 2's Main Console....





A PitDroid taking it easy....
















A lonely Battle Droid Standing Guard.....

MountainCon 4 News

I was informed last week that our Robots, mine and Greg's, are probably going to be setup with Mark Goddard at MountainCon 4 in Utah on September 19-21. Mark played the character, Major Don West, the Jupiter II's Pilot on the 1960's TV series. He also made a guest appearance as the The General in the 1998 movie of the same name. The current idea being discussed by the MountainCon folks is to have the Robots situated so they are kind of like the Sentinel's leading to the Media Guest Autograph Area. Mark will be there with the Robots for for autographs and maybe some possible photos. I met Mark in March at MegaCon in Florida and he is truly a great person and funny guy. I'm looking forward to spending some more time with him and getting a picture of him and my Robot!!

New Pictures on the Robot Wall of Fame

I finally found the old Sci-Fi lobby theater cards I've been looking for to hang in the office. Forbidden Planet and The Day the Earth Stood Still I took an old frame and added a fresh coat of paint with a silver matboard around the Forbidden Planet card and hung it on the Robot Wall of Fame and it really looks great.
Forbidden Planet in the new frame....

The Day the Earth Stood Still in the corner....

They also look great with the Robot in his display area....

My Next Robot Fueled Adventure- Great Texas Build-Off in Dallas

The next adventure in 2008 is on May 16-18. I'll be in Rowlett Texas near Dallas attending

The Great Texas Build-Off

This is being produced by a good friend of mine in the Robot Building Club as a way to share building information and techniques of several different Robots. The Lost in Space B9, the Droids from Star Wars and other famous TV and Movie Robots. The newest robot under development by our new club....Wall-e from Disney. I'm looking forward to this months adventure.

Next month, June, for our 9th Wedding Anniversary we are going to Seattle. I've never been there and was trying to think of what there was to do in Seattle....then it hit me. The Science Fiction Museum! Of Course the place where the orginal stunt Robot from Lost in Space is on display! Cool. This vacation is looking better every day!

RoboCon 2008- Sunday's Log

Sundays started out to be a little slower and layed back than Friday or Saturday, but that changed around 10:00am. It got really crazy real fast and the hi-lite of the entire convention for us was just around the corner.... On Saturday I met Ann Lockhart and got her autograph. We talked about her Mother, June, who starred in Lost in Space. I invited her up to the Robot Room to see our replica Robots from Lost in Space since her Mother wasn't one of the StarFest Guests. She said she would love to and if she could get away she would. Well she didn't show up Saturday so I kind of figured she wouldn't make it. Around 3:00pm she walked into the Robot Room, waved, and came over to our display area. She looked at the Robots for a couple of minutes and said she was amazed at how beautiful and amazing they were. Well I don't know about Greg, but I was practically bustin' buttons! She stayed about 20 to 25 minutes talking to us about Battlestar Galactica, the original TV series and then she posed for pictures with our Robots and us. It a fantastic time and she was absolutely marvelous!

RoboCon 2008- Saturday's Log

When we got to the Robot Room this morning there were about 15 people standing there waiting for us to get the robots up and running. As the the day worn on it was again a flood of people. Greg had been playing around with the Interactive B9 software and developed some very cool phrases and began to have a little fun with the people in a game we called..."Name the Robot". The phrases Greg put together were sound bites from other famous Robots and B9Greg would announce that he did "impressions" and the the audience would have to guess the name of the Robot that B9Greg was doing. The people really got into it and several of these sessions we had about 20 people trying to guess the Robots. Greg had everything including R2D2 and C3PO, W.O.P.R., Robert the Robot, HAL and Colossus. As the night wore on, Greg and I developed a loose comedy dialog between our Robots that was really entertaining.

B9Greg mesmerizing the audience with his impressions....















We had some very well known "Stars" stop by and get their pictures taken with the robots today...

Dark Vader stopped by....












Holy Badguys, The Batman's Villans came to spread trouble













And even Santa couldn't resist a picture with the B9 Robot!!


After we closed the room, those that wanted to came over to my home and had dinner and then visited into the night. It was great to renew old friendships and to make new ones. I hope we can all meet next year.....

RoboCon 2008 - Friday's log

RoboCon 2008 is over and we truly had some great fun.
Here are those B9 Club Memebers that attended.

Front row, left-right Greg Logue, Bob Considine, Mark Newlon, Charlie Garcia
Back Row Left-right Mike Cox, Bruce Cox
Not Pictured Edd Armstrong from Denver




In attendance this year were out of town club members Greg Logue and his Robot B9Greg, Mark Newlon, Bruce Cox and his brother Mike, and Bob Considine and his wife April. Myself and Edd Armstrong were here from Denver and we all had a ball talking about the Robot's and how they are built and the techniques we used. Bob Considine brought in some solid aluminum wheels complete with weight reducing holes and "V" Type tread groove that he has made. They are beautiful!

Here is Friday's Log, the 1st Day of the Convention.....

It took about 3 hours on Friday afternoon for Greg and I to set up our display, the tables and the Robots. Around 5:00pm that afternoon people started to stop by and as the evening progressed, it was an endless stream of people in the Robot Room to see the two Robots and ask hundreds of questions about them. It was so busy in fact that we didn't even get to eat dinner until we got home around 10:30pm.

RoboCon08 Day 1- April 18, 2008 Friday

Here are a few priliminary pictures from Friday's

RoboCon 2008

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The Robots Displayed

Here are some pictures from Fri April 18 of RoboCon.