R2 with C3PO at PAX Prime 2011

This was a chance of a lifetime as R2 got to finally work with his counterpart C3PO at PAX Prime 2011.  Microsoft wanted R2 and C3PO to help promote Star Wars for Kinect that comes out in 2012.  PAX is the premier game convention in the country with about 60,000 attendees.  Before actually going to the convention we traveled to Microsoft to meet with some of the game developers and their families.

Meeting Developers and their families

Lots of children came to greet us - FUN!!

After spending time at Microsoft we then went to PAX at the Seattle Convention Center.  C3PO and R2 were total rock stars!!  Everywhere we went people went crazy and 3 security guards traveled with us. 

Photo op with  fans

Taking a break on the skybridge with C3PO

There was action everywhere!!  We even took a minute to try out Dance Central!! Check us out on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FieM-3Tdhxo

R2-D2 & Bob

And here is how it all comes together!!  Lots of little final details are done and now R2 is running and looking good.  I have many features I will be adding as I go including the utility arms, periscope, launching lightsaber, gripper arm etc. but for now its just nice to be looking finished and running well.

Utility Arms

Another job in the seemingling edless stream of "small" things to do to get R2 looking good are the utility arms.  I plan on having these operational (at a later date) but for now will be happy just to get them painted and hung.  I had some aluminum arms I got a long time ago so I drilled and tapped a hole in the backside for a threaded stud then mounted a model airplave cantrol arm to it.  This will give me a place to attach my servo linkage.

This shot is of the full arms with "fingers" attached.

 

Coin Returns

One of the projects I needed to do to get R2 looking good was to make the coin returns.  I took some scraps left over from all the panels I punched out of the skins and made 3 pieces with the correct dimensions.  I then took a "nibbler" tool I got at Harbor freight and punched out the square hole.  I was worried but the nibbler worked great!

Below are the 3 panels - one with the hole cutout.  I just cleaned up the hole with a file.

I got some very thinn sheet aluminum at the hobby store and cut out the back parts using a pair of scissors.  I bent these to shape and glued them together with good old JB Weld.

Here is the installed parts after wet sanding and then finishing with a scotchbrite pad.

Holoprojectors

Spent most of the day soldering in the wiring for the Holoprojectors and then cleaning up some of the wiring on my electrical panels.  While not the final version of the wiring I have planned, it looks better for the time being and will be more durable as I go forward.

This is the inside of the main electrcal panel in the open position.  I tied the wiring down by drilling two small holes side by side into the ABS then loopng a small black cable tie around them,  It almost disapears into the panel and is easy to remove and re-tie if I add additional wiring.

This view shows the main panel in the closed position.  I still need to come up with a good method to secure the rear door...

The completed dome with all the lights on.  In the future I plan to add more features and hopefully a video projector in the front Holoprojector but for now this looks pretty darn good.

R2 Speaks

Along with getting the Holoprojectors and a few other detail parts finished up one of the other main projects was to get the sound working.  I found a nice small motorcycle amp on eBay and mounted it to a plastic panel on the inside left leg.  I bought a few cheap speakers and tried them but the sound was horrible.  On a hunch I dug around in my garage and found some old stereo speakers that I took apart.  These yeilded two PERFECT speakers that fit perfectly and sound fantastic.  I copied a few extra sound files off my Star Wars music CDs onto a thumb drive and wow!!

This shows the speakers installed on a plate that will be directly begind the front grills.

Also I finished up the Holoprojectors and installed them with a bit of JB Weld.  I still have to hook up the wiring but they look nice and the Dome now has a finished look.

This is an overall shot of what R2 looks like so far without the skins.  In order to get him to a ready to show state I need to wire up the Holoprojectors, add the Power Couplers and manufacture and install the coin returns.  Although the wiring works it's temporary so I need to do a bunch of wiring work soon.

Holoprojectors

This is a painted holoprojector with the lens inserted.  Also shown is the front part of a Brinkman LED flashlight which I disassembled to use for a light.  Wires were soldered to the springs for the battery posts and the rear end of the flaslight was pried off and inserted into the back end for a clean appearance.  I have other lights I tried but many were so bright they hurt my eyes so I like the overall look of this one.

This is a completed holprojector with the light installed.  I just wrapped masking tape around the flashlight housing until it was a tight fit and pressed it in.  I know it is very low tech, but it also cheap and works just fine!!

All three holoprojectors finished and ready to install.

Back to Work

O.K. - I took a break to do some projects and get through the holidays but now its back to work time.  R2 has an appearance at the Museum of Flight in a few weeks so I need to finish the outer detail so he looks done, I can finish some of the other operating features I have planned later.

Above are some power couplers I am putting together out of resin.  I would like aluminum parts but don't have time to make them or find them so a few of the detail parts will be resin for now and hopefully aluminum later.

These are the assembled power couplers and a set of holoprojectors after washing and getting ready to paint.