Fresh Batteries

After the game yesterday, when R2 was limping to the car one of the Dads told me he had a battery that came with his trailer that he didn't need and he offered it to me. He said it was a blue top and that it was 55Ah.

I wasn't sure if he was really serious, but tonight he brought it and dropped it off.

Its an Optima 8016-103 D34M BlueTop Dual Purpose Battery which retails around $200.












With a battery like this I should be able to drive R2 all day without a recharge. The only catch is that it weighs 43lbs and its larger than the ankle base plate in some dimensions. To use it I will have to remove my battery harness and come up with some other way to secure this thing.

Ironically, the long lost batteries that Chris and I ordered on line, showed up last night too. At least I wont have to order a second set.

1st Outing

Today XS made his way to our grade school campus for a test on carpet, then to the High School for a few hours before heading to the Girls B-Ball playoffs.

The carpet was a little too thick and killed his batteries fast so as soon as I got him to the high school I started charging him in the hall.


















Everyone enjoyed seeing him and there were lots of pics taken. Even the teachers were ok with the loud interruption.



































We got him charged and loaded in time to make the game, which our team won. I think it was because R2 was there to cheer for them. I did find myself wishing he made a sound something like, "What are you BLIND, REF?"













In the end R2 got his pic with the victorious Lady Falcons.

edit: I had some issues with my center foot. Now that its been used and loosened up, I need to at some wedges to keep it from tipping when I turn or accelerate.

R2-XS v1.0 Complete

With 1 Week and 3 Days left to go before WonderCon XS has reached the goal of being ready. This is just version 1.0 and he has a little tweaking that has to be done to the speed controller settings, but there is nothing left to construct or add for this version.

My kids squealed with delight, jumped up and down and even hugged him. Their response was better than Christmas morning.


















Tomorrow I will attempt taking him to the school for some road tests. If it works out, I will get some pics to post.

Peace.

Sound System

Getting ready for WonderCon I needed sound in XS. Since I couldnt afford a CF III Reader yet, I went the cheaper route. I spent a few $ on a single channel amp and wired it to my Zune.

I'm using the Zune Dock v1.0 which is powered with a USB cord and has an audio/video output cable on it.

In the picture below you can see the USB plugged in to a 5v adapter that I soldered on a project board. The Zune is placed in the dock which is then connected to the audio/video input that I pillaged from an old cable box.

The Audio/Video input is connected to the 20W amp through a connector taken out of an old PC.













There are no speakers in the picture, but they are mounted in the droid. I had 2 HP speakers from an old PC. They ran off of a headphone jack, so I pillaged a headphone input from that same poor old PC and connected it via the same connector as the audio in.


















Here you can see the Zune situated in the back of R2. All of the sounds I have are put into an Album and set to shuffle. The infrared remote from the dock is used to pause and play the random sounds.

Eventually, when I get the CF III system, I plan to put the Zune dock elsewhere in the droid with a mixer connecting the 2 systems. That way, all of the sounds can be played remotely through the CF reader and the Zune can be used to play music, simultaneously.

Hello World.

Last night Chris came over and we worked together till 11:30 getting the electronics taken care of in XS. When he left we had the dome motor rotating and things were getting pretty close to done on the drive system.

Tonight I finished that wiring, chanced the AX3500 settings to mixed channels and then tested the system by laying the legs next to the frame and hooking them up. Since everything was in order, I mounted the legs and gave R2 his first spin around the garage.

I don't have video but here are a few pics.

His dome is mostly done, I have to tape on the pie panels since I wont have hinges installed for the convention. I also have to finish wiring the slip ring so that the PSI's will be working.


















Here is the view of the back panel. I'm sure it looks familiar to many of you since I am using Chris' spare VEX until I can acquire my own.


















I'd like to take this moment to thank Chris James for bringing me into this club and helping me along the way and Jerry Green (JAG) for being a huge help in getting may parts. If it wasn't for those guys I would just be a parts collector, and not a very good one at that.

Peace.

Casters and Plates for JAG Center Foot

Today I needed to finish my center foot. I had the foot with the plates and 3" casters, but I didn't have any hardware.

Since its important to get the casters set in as far as possible, I got creative with my hardware set up.

I purchased all the screws I needed as well as a set of long nuts that can be threaded into on either end.

Since the nuts couldn't be found to the perfect size, I used a pipe cutter and tubing to create spacers.
























The end result was nice. The caster plate sat flush against the bracket.

Once that was finished I fit my casters and got everything mounted. Of course things weren't perfect. I had to cut a little more off of my Foot shell to allow the casters to turn properly.

In the end I had to take it all apart again so that I could prime everything. I'll post pics again when I have the finished product attached to the ankle.

First Blood

Last night I went to Chris' house to catch up after my vacation and to mount foot drives in my foot shells. We used his drill press to put the holes in the steel JAG feet that I have.

While cleaning up one of the holes I caught my finger on a burr and tore about a 3/4" long gash with a nice like deep spot at the end. Of course Chris was quick with a Pod Racer band aid for me, but not before I had bled on R2's white paint. Since this was the first time I had injured myself in the process of creating R2 I figured it was worth noting.













Beside bleeding on the paint, I did get something done. Both of my legs are now assembled, wired and tested electrically.


















This is R2's geeky, weak in the knees pose.