What Happened??

It's almost a year since the last post and in that year several changes have taken all my time and drained the life force out of me.....My wife's 17 year old grandson came to live with us...won't go into details but it wasn't the best of times for a long while afterwards. I didn't do anything on the Robot or any of my other projects..it was just too depressing. Our vacation with some old friends was cancelled and I think it had to do with our additional member but that is just my assumption. It was a very depressing year and it really got me down in the deep, deep dark doldrums. I did nothing to the Robot during this time as far as upgrades I did, however, take him to work for Halloween in support of the United Way. They offered professional pictures of the kids with the Robot for a donation...raised $140.00. Thanksgiving and Christmas were both depressing this year as well. It just didn't seem like a happy time of year for me. In January the New Year started with rumblings that my job may be going away at the end of the year.....and it actually ended on April 15th. Because of that I didn't go to MegaCon this year...that was depressing. I host The RoboCon Convention here in Denver which is a pretty big event, lots of fun and big moral booster and it helped for a few days but being unemployed sure put a damper on it. To make matters even worse, I even had a minor problem....two artists bailed on delivering the artwork for the T-Shirts. We did have most of the guest stars come up to the Robot Room and visit with us and pose for pictures with the Robots. (Their pictures are posted on the right) Marina Sirtis who played Counselor Troy on Star Trek The Next Generation. Garrett Wang who played Ensign Harry Kim of Star Trek Voyager. Christopher Judge who played Teal'c on Stargate SG1 There was one special guest that came for RoboCon and that was Guy Vardaman who played Darian Wallace and was Brent Spiner's photo double on Star Trek The Next Generation, he also was in Voyager and was a CG artist on Star Trek series and movies. The character of "Guy Fleegman", a background extra on a Trek-like television series in the Star Trek parody Galaxy Quest, was named after Guy. He had a lot of behind-the-scenes stories to tell.

This summer the Robot is getting a up-graded parts I have purchased in the last three years. First he gets a new animated Radar section, machined aluminum ear posts, and brain support components. He will also get a major upgrade to his electronics, Central Support Structure and new rubber arms. Along with these upgrades he will be getting his Radio Control system installed so I can control him.

Hopefully next year I will be employed and can resume building R2D2 and Robby. Now that I have time I'll be posting more on this site and the Batcave Site.

Here are some pictures from Halloween and RoboCon-2010.

The Great Texas Build-Off 2009

This past weekend I was in Dallas Texas attending the 2nd Annual Texas Build-Off for all Robots and Droids at JerryC's home. As always it was a blast! There were 3-B9's, several R2's, Robby, Gort, C3PO, Battle Droid, Pit Droid, Mouse Droids and parts from all the various Robots and Droids were scattered all everywhere in Jerry's house. The event was broadcast live over the web all three days. On Saturday, The Voice of the Robot Mr. Dick Tufeld logged on and chatted with the group for an hour and told us his behind the scenes experiences. Droid Races were held on Sunday. Everyone had so much fun we are already planning for the 3rd Annual Build-Off next year.








A Garage of Robots and Droids!














An interesting mix of Robot and Droid parts













Radio Controlled Robots and Droids












Ready...Set...GO.....The Droid Races















This B9 Robot came all the way from Wisconsin! He's Pooped













Me (R) and Jerry (L) and a couple of his Famous Replica Robots Robby (L) from Forbidden Planet and Gort (R) from The Day the earth Stood Still. Both are from the originals movies.

Jerry C's Texas Build-Off

Jerry C's 2nd Annual Texas Build-Off for ALL Robot Builders begins on Friday May 15th and I hope to attend. Last year was a blast and this year I actually have a couple of items I need some help in building so I'm hoping to get there. There will be a few familiar faces from last year as well as some new faces. Jerry has a full schedule of things planned everyone is going to have a blast. It just can't be helped!
If I'm able to make it I'll post some pictures on Monday May 18th.

Bob May Candy Bar Project

I believe that the Bob May Candy Bar Project is ready to close, get the scrapbook pages finished and everything sent to the family. This has been a very rewarding project because I've seen the good in people you sometimes don't always get to see. It touched my heart. I'll have a complete report in the next couple weeks with pictures and stories.

New B9 Money Clip

It just didn't seem right at this last Robot Convention to pull out my Batman Money Clip when I made a purchase so I decided to remedy that last night. Here is the Batman Money clip I currently use daily....... (click image to zoom)














I will be using this money clip at all Robot Events in the future....

RoboCon 2009 Day 3

We had a lot of fun at this convention and we are discussing plans to make the 2010 Edition even better. One goal is to get more club members to attend and some more Robots on display as well. Here are some closing pictures from Sunday.









L to R CharlieG, JerryC, B9Leo, BobG, SamL and GregL.

RoboCon 2009- Day 2

At these conventions, Saturday is the biggest and busiest day and this year, despite the 14 inches of snow we received, was no exception.












People were coming in large groups to the Robot Arena. We had Star Trek fans from all the series, Star Wars Fans, people from the HorrorFest and ComicFest Conventions which were also being held with StarFest one of the largest Sci-Fi Conventions in the United States.














Two Club Members, Bob G and Jerry C, manned the desk and kept everyone entertained with my Robot with the help of the fantastic I-B9 Software. We had several fans come up and tell Greg and myself that they were at the convention because they were fans of the lost in Space Robot and just couldn't pass up seeing one in person. They were really surprised at the size and how they looked just like the Robot they remembered on the TV Series. More Pictures....



The Robot with a Star Trek, The Next generation fan.

Robot and Star Wars fans.

Robot with Superboy and his Mom. The Robot was just a bit BIG and intimidating!

A young Will Robinson even shown up in his silver flight suit to pose with the Robot
Star Trek, The Next Generation fan. We thought it was Marina Sirtis for a minute but she has been invited to StarFest next year.
A REAL Star Trek, fan.
Brent Spiner!! Brent was kind enough to autograph this picture for me. The Android and The Robot - COOL!!

RoboCon 2009 - Day 1

Well...the first day of RoboCon is history and it was a blast. We decided to arrive early this year, 8:00am rather than 1:00pm and it proved to be a wise decision as it took us just over 4 hours to set up everything and get operational.













This is the display for the Bob May Candy Bar Tribute. The B9 Club purchased the candy and 100% of the sales will be donated to Bob May's Family. He is truely missed by the Club...















The "SlideShow Kiosk Station" This is where I showed the pictures of the Robot's building history, past Conventions he's attended and various other pictures were played as a slide show. It was a big hit.














Greg getting his Robot, B9Greg, On-Line

















My Robot is ready to get started....

RoboCon 2009

Wow RoboCon is in just TWO weeks! I have been designing and building the new treadsection and silicone rubber legs over the next couple weeks and then installing them for RoboCon. Here are some pictures of the progress.

The steel leg support plates.

The Aluminum frame for the sub-waistplate support.

Steel wheel axels from 3/8" stock.

New tread section prior to rubber legs installation

New leg section on the left with the wood frame section on the right.

Robot Invasion at MegaCon Orlando Florida

At the last minute I decided to attend MegaCon in Orlando Florida and boy am I glad I did. I had a blast!!! I got to connect with some old friends and make some new ones.

Jim and Yvonne actually host the robot gathering called Robot Invasion and they had some fantastic robots in attendance. There were 2 B9 Robots, at least 5 R/C R2D2's and a few R2 and R5's in various stages of completion, A Full scale Robby, Bender, Death Star Droid, C3Po, FedEx Robot Bust from I, Robot, The 1950's Bus Stop Robots that were animated and a Life Size Cylon from new series Battle Star Galactica.




I met and spoke to Tricia and James from the new battlestar Gallactica and both were great people. In fact James came over to our display and posed with me and the Cylon!!


Another friend I reconnected with was Anne Lockhart from the original Battlestar series. As you probably recall she was here in Denver for last years StarFest and when I asked her to pose for a picture with my Robot she readily agreed. Anyways, as she set up her pictures we chatted and she said she would be over to our display to talk some more and of course take some pictures. She didn't disappoint. She remembered the picture I took in Denver of her and my Robot that and she signed it for me. What a great person.



Here's few couple other pictures from MegaCon 2009.

My Tribute to Bob May

Here is the cut-n-paste link to the local television station 9News story on Bob May and the Robot. Bob was the uncredited actor that was inside the Robot for the 1960's TV Show Lost in Space. I met Bob a couple years ago and considered him my friend. He was one of the actors that truely love and respected his fans. I'm truely delighted that I got to meet him and have him consider me one of his friends.

http://www.9news.com/life/entertainment/article.aspx?storyid=110048&catid=151

copy the link above to your browser to view story....

Bob May Tribute

Today Kirk Montgomery of the local television station, 9News, came to my home office to tape an interview with me and the Robot. The purpose is to do a proper tribute to the Man in a Can Bob May who past away this past January at the age of 66. Bob is the actor that gave the Robot his character and personality. Kirk is a Lost in Space fan as well and we had a real good time talking about the Robot and of course Bob May. Kirk will send me a copy of the interview and let me know when the segment will air. The Robot and Kirk will meet again at RoboCon 2009 which is a B9 Robot Builders Club Convention that is held in conjunction with StarFest in Denver Colorado.

2009- A New Year

RoboCon'09 is just around the Corner. (107 days) We are hoping to get at least one of the LiS cast Members in for this convention. Bob May or Mark Goddard would be the first choice. Bob lost his home along with everything else to the fires in California a couple months ago just before Thanksgiving.

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.