December 27, 2007 - Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, it's a couple of days after Christmas, and I'm getting back to work on RD. Of course, a couple of days after Christmas means only one thing... my birthday! It's the third anniversary of my 40th birthday, and I'm enjoying it! Don't believe me? Here I am after a couple of beers and a challenge from my older daughter to play Guitar Hero III on the new Wii. (Rock You Like A Hurricane, baby!)

In case you can't see what's on that shirt, it's a proclamation of the 2007 NCCA Championship won by the Owsego (NY) State Men's Hockey Team. They're a Division III school that's in the hometown of two of my favorite people: Erik Cole and Scott Smith. Sure, Cole'e name rings a bell... he's a forward for the Carolina Hurricanes. Scott Smith, though? Well, he was my roommate in college, and the best man at my wedding. The picture was more for him, to prove that I wore the shirt. Here's a close-up, in case you can't read it:

I've been working some more on the legs. I got the pipes drilled and set in place, so that the legs will both tilt at the same time. This took a bit of work... I tightened the pipes into the flanges by hand, which only got me so far. After adding some epoxy to the threads and the flanges, the pipes tightened some more. So, I had to make sure that the holes drilled into the pipes (to keep them together) were in the right place.

The legs were given some feet, to help complete this part of the build. Of course, I built the feet from scrap plywood, and put them together based on Victor Franco's blog entry on temporary feet. I'm planning on making mine more or less permanent (once I get the shells built). The problem for you, loyal reader, is that I built the feet in a flurry of activity that did not include my camera. You'll have to settle for a few after-the-fact shots. Below you can see the center leg and its "foot", which is just a caster. The outer feet are similar, as shown in the other picture. I scavenged the wheels from my daughters' scooters!

You can probably see that the outer foot is mounted to the entire droid. Want to see the whole thing?!?!?!

Wait, it gets better. Add the dome, so that it actually looks like something!

Well, you'll have to wait for more. I've been working a bit on the foot shells, and will have some more pictures for you next time!

Bob
December 27, 2007