Day 1 (4th August 2015)
So after throwing around a few ideas for a new project to sink my teeth in to, I decided to go ahead and do my own version of an Astromech Droid, rather an Astromech "Smartdroid". With K-9 being one of my all time favourite on-screen robots, R2-D2 was (and still is) just as much of an all time favourite of mine so building one of my own droids is a logical step for me. As my other robot showcases where posted when the majority of the work was done, this will be a build diary of sorts, with updates throughout the build.
So wanting to get back to building, I had a few ideas floating around for my next BIG project and the thought about doing an R2 style robot came up a few times in the past (the blueprints I drew up that I've posted are 3 years old and was for an R/C version), and after encountering a few design issues for a large custom robot (which I will get back to one day), it was @Robot56's fantastic Astromech Droid project that was the final push for me to decide what direction I should go. There are so many great scale replica Astromech builds around that people have done, but much like my K-9 2.0 build, I want to stay away from doing an exact prop replica build and do a custom build with custom paint job (as seen in the blueprints) while still keeping with the overall original design.
So what's with the name E4-B4 (Eiifor-Befour)? Well its kinda based on the EZ-B 4, of which this little'ish guy will have two of them. One master v4 to control motor controllers, ping sensors, v4 soundboard, camera and sensors, while the 2nd slave v4 will be used for all of the servos used as well as additional sensors. E4 will be mainly built using MDF with a plastic covering, and movement will be powered by 12v 30 watt gearbox/motors for the drive system. The "burtt acoustic signaller" and system ventilation vents on R2-D2's chest area (the two silver square'ish panels) will be replaced on E4 with a tablet PC, and the Optical Holographic Projector in R2's head will be something similar to what E4 will have, using a portable projector like the Aiptek or the Pico Genie, so no holograms... yet.
The dimensions will be slightly smaller than the original prob, but not by much so E4 will be plenty big enough. I'm intending to fit a few useful tools that he will be able to deploy, and of course have the fully rotating head which will have all kinds of bells and whistles. I have some of the MDF sheets and 2x4 wood lengths for the frame already, and the motors and head dome (lampshade) should be with me sometime this week, so it will be power tools at the ready. I'm in no rush to finish this project, but I am aiming to have E4-B4 pretty much finished by this December.
I will posting lots of photos and few videos throughout the build process, so I hope anyone reading will find this build dairy interesting and enjoyable. And as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions (especially on the colour scheme). Anyway thanks for reading, and let the build begin...
Steve.
Other robots from Synthiam community
DJ's AR Drone Parrot
J's Rover My First Bot
Thanks for your kind words Patrick.
I have posted an Instructable on how E4-B4 was built, and just received an email from someone from their head office saying that they like my project and it is eligible to be entered in three contests they're running, and suggested that I entered. So I did, and here are the links for the contests...
Tech Contest
Robotics Contest
Sci-fi Contest
I made sure EZ-Robot got a few mentions with links to the site. Maybe some of our members here could enter the comps as well, as there is plenty of great projects here.
FANTASTIC PRESENTATION OF A GREAT PROJECT !
I really enjoyed the journey of the build. Thanks for taking the time to share. I am sure you have inspired many.
It was fun seeing the high quality presentations.
Ron R
Good Luck in the contests
Ron R
great news,hope you win.
@nomad.
Thanks buddy. The guy who emailed me seemed to think is has a chance of winning something. I wouldn't have entered if he hadn't said that. Oh well, wait and see.
@Ron.
Thank you for your nice comments and support along the way. You, among others, certainly kept me motivated throughout the build, especially when I needed motivating. I'm pleased you like the showcase presentation. I was up until 4am trying to get the videos finished but I think they came out alright. I'll sleep well tonight that's for sure.
Your entry is head and shoulders above the others in the Robots category. Several of the entries there weren't even robots as far as I could see. Heck, both of the biped robots I looked at could not even actually walk.
In the Sci-fi Contest, it's no contest. So far anyway. The Tech Contest is a bit harder to call since there is such a wide range of gadgets in it. Even in it though I didn't see anything as great as yours, but there were so many I didn't look all that closely at them. Some of them that didn't look like much may have had significant technical merits.
If it's strictly won by number of votes, then who knows which will win in any category since it becomes a contest of who can get out the vote instead of actual quality of entry.
Anyway, voted for you in all 3. Good luck!
Got my votes !
Ron R
@WBS.
Wow, I don't really know what to say to your response except, thank you. Yeah the Sci-fi one should be a breeze, considering there's only two entries, lol. The guy who emailed me said that there was a new comp that started today which was perfect for my project, but there's a long way to go with that one. Anyhow, it's the taking part that counts... right?
Anyway, thanks (and to Ron as well) for your votes and kind words. It makes building E4 even more worth while doing.
I just wanted to mention one thing about the blowtorch that I missed out previously. I fully intended to automate it using a servo of something to switch the gas flow on, and an igniter (saw a 3.3v one on an online robot parts store, I think mainly used for fireworks. Can't remember which store) to ignite the flame, but from a safety aspect, I decided to keep it manual for now just in case something went wrong and retracted while the flame was still burning. If the flap closed on that, it could make for a large amount of molten plastic mess... or worse. Any ideas anyone has on this would be great.