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Hi all,
I'd like to share a video I just took of my full size Lost in Space B9 robot that's controlled by two EZ-B controller boards. Right now they are controlling limited movement and voice response of a few motors, lights and sound files played from a Sparkfun MP3 Trigger board. Although I'm just starting with the animation and have more building on the actual robot the result (mostly thanks to the EZ Robot controller board) is shocking. Please have a look at this (4 minute) You Tube vid and enjoy.
Please excuse some Technical camera lighting and sound issues. This is the first time I'd made and posted a vid online.
EDIT 8/2/13: Just realized I have no good pictures of how my B9 will look when complete. Here's one of the actual TV robots from the 60's TZ show Lost in Space and one recent shot of where I'm at with my build over 1 1/2 year after I started. Enjoy:
Thanks, Dave Schulpius
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Looking like you are painfully close! Exciting!
True awesomeness..... Incredible engineering my friend. I am wondering....are you making CAD drawings of all your custom parts? Great video.....why not get you a tripod to hold your camera to make video making easier? Just a thought.
Dave, as always a brilliant job! - your engineering skills are amazing.
The mechanisms you have got working here are really hard to do, yet you have somehow managed to do it well done!
Tony
Dave, great job!
Are you able to slide the arm on the rail with no power to the motor? If so, the auto training on the kangaroo will work great for you. If not, DE has some software for you to use to setup the kangaroo.
I am very impressed. Almost there!
Dave,
Brilliant work and beautifully executed! Inspiration! (he says with his hot glue gun and plumbers tape)
Best, Mike
Thanks for all the nice comments everyone. They mean a lot to me and help keep me motivated.
@Will, you're so right. It's sometimes painful at points like this. I'm so close but it takes a long time to complete stages. Seems like I work for hours thinking I'm almost there but then I realize there is so much more to do. However, it's the journey, and not the end of the road that really counts and where the fun is.
@Rex, Thanks for the suggestion. I do have a tripod and may use it next time. However, it's hard to get 360 coverage with a tripod attached.
@David, I can't move the motor without power so I cant teach the Kangaroo like that. I have been using the Roo in a few other places in this build and found the Auto Tune to be challenging in odd applications like this. I do have a few tricks up my sleeve and I'm hopeful it will work for me.
My next step will be to get the cable management system in place and then to wire in the encoder and motor controllers. I have off work the next week so maybe I'll have controlled movement by next weekend. However It's probably going to take twice as long to do as I figure like everything else has. LOL.
Thanks again everyone, Dave Schulpius
Woops, missed answering a few comments;
@Rex, No, I have no CAD drawings. I don't have a program and have no idea how to use CAD. I would really like to get a good CAD program and learn how to use it. It probably would have helped me out a lot and made the design process much easier. As it is everything was designed, measured, built and tested in my head before I actually started making anything. Very tiring and at times overwhelming. Then when I finally started laying out, cutting, drilling, filing and assembling, I always ended up redoing the peace somehow. When I build the other arm I was planning on just copying the parts from the first to make a clone of sorts. Maybe I should invest in a CAD program and learn it first. That way I could make CAD drawings as I go. confused My problem is I have trouble stopping to do something like that. When I'm not engaged in something else, I constantly design and build in my head. Then I seem driven to build and get something tangible to work with and look at. That's probably not a good thing and one of my shortcomings. However I like to call it craftsmanship.
@walunit, What are you talking about? Hot Glue Guns rule!
I have many sticks of industrial strength Hot Glue melted into the deep recesses of my B9 robot. This stuff is great for holding small parts in place where there is no other way to anchor them. I really like to hot glue the heads of bolts to surfaces. It's a perfect way to mount stuff that needs to use bolts to hold them down. Another good thing to use is Plumbers Epoxy. That stuff is as strong as steel and grabs on to anything that is slightly ruffed up. I mounted everything inside of my torso using these two methods. 
See some of it below. Long Live the Hot Glue Gun!:
So the hot glue/plumbers epoxy thing holds small things in well huh? hadn't really thought about the glue-mounting flat head bolts thing, but what works, works. Must try that myself.
This thing is amazing. And I wouldn't worry about doing the autocad drawings. Yes, it can be helpful, but this is a one of a kind deal. It's not like it's going into production. Flying by the seat of your pants is an age old technique for this sort of thing. Also, it's not like you're on a deadline or have to answer to anyone (but yourself). Dwelling too much on working up good drawings and plans can make what should be fun turn to drudgery. As far as drawings are concerned, do sketches and revise as needed. Like the saying goes, just do it! Heck it got you this far after all.