(03-04-2012) Teeces Lighting is 90% done

Today I was able to finished soldering up the all of the boards, except for the remaining LED's - those will need to be soldered in a checkerboard pattern to go with Milkbone's alterations to do the "slide" effect. Joymonkey's kit is super easy to put together, and it has great printed instructions as well as videos to help in assembly.

(03-03-2012) Rear Logic Board is done

Today the rear logic board is done, tested and working well. The only problem I had was several green LEDs in backwards, and they stayed lit all the time instead of flashing. It took a while to use solder braid and remove the offending LEDs, but it was very fun to build. Looking forward to finishing up the lights in the next week or so. I also want to make the PSI changes M1lkbone made to give it a more correct look.

(02-28-2012) Teeces lights arrive and assembly begins

The lights (Teeces V3) for R2 arrived on Monday (2-27-2012), but I had a job that evening and I was unable to get started on them, but last night (2-28-2012) I had a little time to get started on the rear logic board. I need to get a battery holder, power regulator and install some lights to test it. Sorry for the blurry picture, all I had was my phone to get a pic.

Dome works continues

I did more filing and sanding and now the dome is completely de-burred and smoothed to my satisfaction. Next step is to fit the inner and outer domes and find the best fit, make my marks on the inner dome and the cutting begins. Very nervous to cut on such a nice piece.

And in the the new parts front: the radar dome eye lens came today (the big eye in the middle of R2's forehead).

Dome work begins

I started working on the dome last night. I followed the 300mm dome tutorial fairly closely and it worked well. I numbered the panels and inside the dome so I would know where the panels were placed when it's time to put them back. Then cut out the panels on the dome with a hack saw blade. The rest of the evening was spent filing flat the tabs that held the panels in place and removing the slag left by the laser cutting process. Filing the tabs was simple enough, just grabbed a flat or rounded file and smoothed out the panel lines.

The slag removal didn't seem to go as easily. I first tried the recommended method of using a wood chisel to remove the slag. It did work to some extent, so it's a good first step, but I found in areas where lots of panels were removed that this was just too much pressure and was going to bend the dome. So, I used some medium coarseness steel wool to sand the back side of the dome and remove the slag. This worked much better, took longer, but I wasn't worried about putting too much pressure on the dome and deforming it. I still am not quite satisfied with the outer dome's fit to the inner dome, and so another round of sanding is coming today. It's good, but I know that the slag isn't all gone and I want a good tight fit. Also, as you smooth out the slag, be sure the reapply your panel numbers if you remove them.

New frame

Yesterday was a huge day for R2. His new aluminum frame arrived, with skin mounting blocks, leg to body hubs (leg flanges) and G10 side plates (for mounting electronics). In the form of electronics it also came with a wireless PS2 controller, a 6 channel servo controller, sabertooth motor controller, power adjuster for the servo controller (step down regulator) , the breakout board, slip ring connector for connecting dome electronics and the fuse block. Oh, and last but not least it came with the center vents.

So, it is a huge update for R2, and I haven't really had time to unpack an look at everything yet. Expect pictures and more updates soon.

The big parts arrive!

The aluminum dome and skins have arrived!! Along with this I have acquired a few other parts (hose fittings, dome bumps and power couplers) and I've ordered a few more parts (legs, skirt, large data port, PSI kit, dome lighting and a radar dome lens). Its really starting to look like R2-D2!

I've also been working on software to control the dome motor, but haven't had any luck with it, yet. I suspect it may be interference from the cheap 12v power supply I'm using, but only time and testing will let me know for sure.