2014 KC Makers Faire

Had a great time at the KC Makers Faire this year.  Being inside made it much better than last year.  Here is the photo taken by the group.  George's R2-A7 is off somewhere, probably with George and a mob of people.  Mine is the all white body and dome with the purple painters tape.

ROTOPOD Persicope light kit

So my buddy Mike asked me to help him with putting this RotoPod Periscope light kit together.  I figure I owe him for the free Syren10 he gave me and he's promised to help my fix up my Radar Eye this weekend at Makers Faire so I figure its a fair trade.  There was both more and less  to putting this together than I originally thought.  I thought there would be more soldering and wiring to do but there wasn't a whole lot.  The actual assembly wasn't too difficult except for the tight work space getting the front red LEDs put in.  The real challenge was squeezing  everything into the periscope itself.  I've done it a couple times now and its just as hard as the first time around, but its done now, even if I do say so myself, it looks great.

So I only have 2 real complaints:

1.  the Center LEDs are a little to right for my tastes, but that can be fixed with a code update.
2.  I don't have one of these kits for my R2.

Padawan test setup

 I decided to go with the Padawan control system since it flexible, already works with the teeces lights I have, and readily available.  With the PS2 controller and the Arduino Uno I already have I started building my control system.  I have the sabertooth as well but without motors there is no point hooking it up yet.  I'm using some Cat V cable to wire it up with a RJ45 jack for easy disconnect.  I think I want to run as much of the wiring as I can using the same setup.  I won't be running the heavy amps over it though to the foot and dome motors.

Mo' orders arrived

Yesterday and Today saw the delivery of the resin parts and wireless PS2 controller I ordered last week.

Progress update

Thought I'd piece together most of the bits and pieces I've managed to assemble to this point.

Here's R2 next to my "model".  Had to tape on the radar eye I have though I am waiting on a new one.

Realized I could put his dome panels on for a better visual.

Mo' orders Mo' orders

So ordered some more parts today. 
1) PS2 wireless controller
1) Set of Under Shoulder Details (4)
1) coin slots
1) set of Shoulder Hydraulics (2)
1) Radar Eye

Hopefully those will arrive in the next week or two.  I've decided to go ahead and order a second Radar eye because of 1) the huge air bubbles  found in my first one when trying to sand it to the fit the dome, and 2) some mistakes I made trying to clean up the slot under the eye lens.

Skirt update

Got the skirt skinned today.  I still need to file downs some edges and fill in some gaps.  I have the external ribs put together and filed smooth so the are dry to attach.      You can see them behind and to the left of the skirt.  Also my inprogress frame is in the background.