Mike's Droid R2-TNGO : conversion upgrade Part 2

Thursday lunchtime I popped up to see Mike as he wanted to have his new droid MOT’ed.

New legs cut from wood.

New motor inner foot shells.

New metal outer foot shells.

New centre leg.

New Dome gear setup.

New batteries…….

A solid upgrade from two leg to three legs.

The electrical system was half new, wires for the motors and battery hookup, with the main Padawan 360 setup, including sounds, being all on a board that is a simple unplug and remove from one droid, and fits into another droid.

Mike showed me the new batteries he had bought, lifepo ones, these were SUPER lightweight!!!

Saturday was its first event. Mike had a great time and got to meet another Mike.

Mike Quinn with Mike Berry and R2-TNGO

South West Builders 2021 events compilation

 With 2021 done with,

the guys asked me to

compile a short video

montage of the events

we were able to

attend this year.

It was great getting out with these

guys & girls and being able to

brighten peoples days with

meeting the droids.

Here’s to more in 2022!

We already have a few dates/events penciled in, some local #Bristol,

Others a bit further away.

If your interested in building a

droid, check out:

www.astromech.net

www.astromech.info (uk)

www.droidbuilders.uk (uk)

…as well as on Facebook & YouTube.

Corsa transport upgrades - 1.1

June 21st

After thinking about how best to support the legs. I decided that the solid shoulder hubs would be best, with a slot designed to hold in place.

I may still think about a central support, but the legs are solid hence not having them.

Next up was to support the ankle. The piece I had already made which would slot in the ankle and support on the bent steel ankle lock, needed to be modified to fit on the ankle support part.

~~~~~

July 3rd

With everything else going on, today was finishing up the leg platform.

So measured up, and got on with cutting out wood. All pieces were then glued and screwed together.

I added padding to areas needed to protect the paint etc. and these were covered in leftover red material.

And the finished platform…..

Tomorrow’s the big event day, for MOT’ing droids. Some have traveled far and are already in Bristol. I’ll be loading up R5 etc in the morning.

** South West Droid Builders MOT Day ** [UPDATE]

** MOT Testing Day **

Droid MOT Day, news update:

The Northern event date has changed to August 1st.

For club members wanting to attend either

North or South events, please check out the

www.droidbuilders.uk

page for the portal link  to register.

The Bristol event is STILL,

Sunday 4th July 2021

This event is open to all R2D2 Builders Club members,

with or without Droids,

though of course the purposes is for MOT'ing them.

Southern event:

10 members attending

2 members maybe attending

6 requested MOT's.

Northern event:

19 members attending

6 members maybe attending

5 requested MOT's

#mot #astromechdroids #ukR2D2buildersclub #droidbuildersuk #bristol #R2D2 #R5D4

Corsa transport upgrades - 1.0

May of mentioned before, but my small Corsa, will probably be my main transport for events etc. for future events. The boot load area isn’t large enough to hold R5 in one piece, thankfully with recent upgrades the legs can easily be removed. Allowing a lot less weight to be lifted up and over the boot lip into the rear boot area.

So R5’s body and transport sledge location are sorted. Next up are the legs/feet. This required a new platform to sit over the rear seat area, when it’s laid down. Designed the platform to be level and to be able to be slid forward and use the supports in the boot area that support the raised false floor position.

Measured and cut up some wood and added some strengthening beams underneath.

Next:

• securing points.
• Strap/handles
• Location mounts for legs.

I didn’t want the handles to be an obstruction so decided that as I have plenty of web strapping, I’d make two handles out of a piece of 10mm dia dowel, with the webbing fixed to them.

The second handle is fitted to the rear of the board, to be able to 'lift' the platform up over the side support end stops. The platform then easily slides up onto the rear of the lowered seat......as can be seen in the first picture above.

Still working out how best to mount the legs to the platform....

This picture shows the platform in its 'unloading' position, after being pulled forward, allowing easy access to the legs to be loaded/unloaded.

Am leaning towards the leg bolts as a fixing point and the ankles have a metal strengthening strip, so this could be the support point.

More updates soon......

..............Don't forget, the South West MOT day,

Sunday 4th July [UK only]

If your a UK Builder who needs a Droid MOT

[required for club approved events]

check out the Droid Builders UK portal link,

for the Northern & Southern events.

** South West Droid Builders MOT Day **

 ** MOT Testing Day **

Droid MOT Day South, news update: Mike has secured an open venue  near his place of work to host this event. It was required as the numbers attending had increased. If you are up North, there is also a Northern event happening on the same day, co-incidence, but a good one as if you require an MOT, but Bristol is a little to far, you can attend this one in stead.

Bristol is the place, Sunday 4th July 2021

This event is open to all R2D2 Builders Club members, with or without Droids, though of course the purposes is for MOT'ing them.

Southern event: 9 members attending at present with 2 maybe's.

Northern event: 11 members attending at present with 5 maybe's

For club members wanting to attend either North or South,

please check out the www.droidbuilders.uk page to sign in via the portal link to register.

#mot #drivingtest #astromechdroids #droidbuildersuk #bristol #R2D2 #R5D4

** South West Droid Builders MOT Day **

** MOT Testing Day **

With event's hopefully starting back up this year, droids here in the UK, are required to pass a Droid MOT. Mike has kindly offered to arrange an area near his place of work to host this event.

Bristol is the place, Sunday 4th July 2021

The MOT's are to ensure that a droid is safe, both mechanically & electrically and that (if a new builder) is competent to safely maneuver & operate their droid around people/public.

As we have close links with Disney/Lucasfilms, ensuring that a droid doesn't make the news for the wrong reason [accident], the MOT ensures what is required of both the droid and the operator. On passing the operator is eligible for the Clubs PLI (insurance).

More updates on this event to follow. If you’re a UK Droid Builder, check out www.droidbuilders.uk for UK events portal link sign up, news, features, members profiles, links to merchandise and the YouTube channel.

Zoom - UK Droids MOT talk

With Zoom being THE group video web chatting app in this time of world isolation, club members have been using it to keep in touch with fellow builders around from around the world. I've unfortunately not been available to join in on the last week weekend group chats, the last one which recently happened was a marathon one from around the world!

Well last weekend the R2D2 Droid Builders Club UK hosted a chat about the MOT system for droids here in the UK. The chat covered the aspects of what is required to be cleared for droid and operator to attend events with the club and representing the club.

We had a bout 70/80 people join in to hear Darren, Lee, Sam, Mark, Oliver & myself talk about the reasons why we have the MOT. We had fellow members of the world wide club also in attendance to ask questions and to see if it could be something reproduced in their respective countries.

The Club has a high profile and close links with Disney/Lucas films, attending film premier's and other promotional events. Having your droid & you cleared safe to operate safely to attend events and as such, representing the Club, also means that you are then able to be included with PLI.

So if your a UK builder and want to see and hear about the process, check out the forum at www.astromech.info or on www.droidbuilders.uk or on the clubs Facebook pages, for details on Saturdays Zoom chat, I believe the recorded session will possibly be posted up.....