Dover Mini Maker Faire

On Saturday, August 23, R2 and I attended the Mini Maker Faire in Dover, NH.  I was joined by fellow R2 Builder Paul Murphy and his R2-D2.  

Dover, New Hampshire is almost 3 hours away from me and with an 8:30 arrival and unload time, I had to plan ahead.  

The night before I got R2-D2 all loaded up into the Honda Odyssey and prepped for the trip.  One thing that frustrated me initially was the Maker Faire site didn't have any obvious links for directions to the event.  After some digging, I had what I needed and set my alarm clock for 4 AM. (Oh that hurt.)

Now if you have never heard of a Maker Faire and are wondering they are, a Maker Faire is an event created by Make magazine to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset". 

Or as I would better describe it as a science fair on steroids!

The 10 year old Garmin GPS found the location with ease and the volunteer staff was really great.  A burly gent helped unload R2-D2 with me and we quickly found our booth, just across from the 501st New England Garrison.  Paul Murphy arrived the night before and his droid, along with the R2 Builders Club banner, were all set up.

Left, Paul Murphy's droid, Right, Paul J. Bussiere's droid.

Since we had a booth, I was content being parked while Paul Murphy took his droid around the exhibit.  It was really tight quarters walking around the site and my radio was acting quirky at one point.  (It turns out the stick had some debris jammed in it, as R2 walked away slowly for a few feet before I shut down the motors.  I couldn't get the stick back into the center/neutral position, which explains why he crept away slowly.)

With two droids, one parked static and another wandering, I had a lot of time to answer questions about how R2 was built, the materials and how it operates.  People are always expecting R2 to be smaller than it is in person.  

The Maker Faire had booths for many interesting things for all ages.  The Quad-Copter on display looked pretty sharp, even sporting a GoPro camera.  There were 3D printers in action, underwater robots working outside in a make-shift pool and much, much more.  

Quad Copter

3D Printing

The 501st guys had troopers roaming the area and the folks in the booth were giving step by step tutorials on how they make their armor.  They had a function heat station with vacuum chamber setup, making miniature Stormtrooper head forms.  To keep things fresh, every hour they would display the next step in how they make their armor.  Seeing how they mold and form the helmets was impressive, plus the work they do with Smooth-On for casting.

Zoombie Trooper

TIE Fighter Pilot and a very, very tall stormtrooper that towers over R2

Since I was facing another 3 hours of driving, I opted to leave at 3 pm, as things were starting to slow down.  I would've liked to have stayed later and gone to dinner with my fellow builder....but I also wanted to get home while it was still daylight and get everything unloaded.  Six hours of driving in one day, plus all day on my feet makes for a tired me!

I had a good time and hope an event like this makes it's way closer to me!  

My only grief would be the usual thing all builders have that display their droids...people who beat on your droid.  The kids were behaved pretty well, overall.  But there's also those hand-full that insist on hitting, tugging on, pushing in on the lights and so on.  Most frustrating is that this occurs while the parent stands there, amused and thinking this is hilarious.  I seem to spend a lot of time saying "Please don't touch" over and over again, which I hate.  

I don't mind the kids touching the droid, respectfully...its the yanking and hitting that's over the top.  If you know a solution that doesn't involve barbed wire or 50,000 volts of electricity, please let me know!

Portland Sea Dogs STAR WARS Night

Saturday, August 16th was the first Annual STAR WARS night for the Portland Sea Dogs, a minor league baseball team.

Saturday I made the 130 mile drive down to Portland for this event.  Also participating would be two Stormtroopers from the 501st and the Mandalorian Mercs.  

For me, one of the biggest challenges of an event is parking close enough.  Well, I got a great spot but was also warned...it's notorious for receiving foul balls!  However, it worked out great, close to our setup spot and at the end of the day, no damage to the van!

We had a pretty nice changing room and myself, R2, the Mercs and our troopers got all prepped...

The Portland Sea Dogs ball games are very family friendly with a lot of kid events before and during the game.  The plan was to greet the crowd once the gates opened, then get prepped for the pre-game parade with all the kids that dressed in Star Wars garb.  

We spent some time on the sidelines while the costume parade took shape.  For me, I hadn't planned on R2 doing this but after managing to drive up on the dirt perimeter track, R2 drove quite well.

R2 up on the clay track perimeter

Look, packed clay and I'm leaving tracks in the dirt!

With everyone formed up, we followed the parade around the park.  

And we drove so very, very well until...the final turn, coming from right field on down to the dugout.  The center wheel casters (roller blade wheels) sunk in about 4 inches into the loose dirt.  Thankfully R2-D2 didn't face-plant itself, the drive wheels simply dug into the dirt too.  The center foot shell was in the dirt too, it was that deep.  With the help of the staff, we tried backing R2 up and going forward elsewhere in the dirt track, but it was all loose turf.  So, we picked R2 up and drove back on the grass (which went really well!)

Parade done, it was time for the players to come out!  The Sea Dog players were sporting "Chewbecca-style" jerseys, which will later be auctioned off, with the proceeds going to Make A Wish.

Then....it was game on!  In extra innings, the Sea Dogs won, 1-0!

After the game, there was an impressive fireworks display with Star Wars music blaring.  A real treat for all us Star Wars fans!

We all stuck around for more pictures with the fans and after many hours on our feet, got ready to head for home.

Dome removed for transport...less bouncing around that could damage the electronics.  All packed up for the ride home.

Overall, R2 performed well!  The center foot sinking into the dirt has caused some issues with the caster bearing jamming up, so R2 has made a few sudden stops due to that.  R2 is about due to have that center foot caster dismantled and inspected to see how bad the bearings look.  Those bearings allow the center wheels to swivel around and may be due for a replacement.

More pictures are available on the Sea Dogs Facebook page

Kid's Corner visit 2014

Today was our annual visit to Kids' Corner - Community Early Care and Learning Facility in Bar Harbor, Maine.  They are roughly an hour away from where I live, so with summer tourism in mind, I left extra early!

As I did in 2012, I brought my Father down with me since he knows the Director and her family well.

Once we arrived, we went inside to let them know we were there....and spotted this...

Once I got R2-D2 inside, it was time to hook up the dome, fire up the netbook and install in inside.  While I worked, some very curious children were peeking to see what was going on!

Once R2-D2 was together and ready to go, the kids were VERY excited to see the little guy!

As Lori and her staff does, the children take their seats and one by one, the kids get picture with R2-D2.  From there, they get to investigate and inquire!

We spent two hours with the children before it was time for lunch.  As we have in the past, we had a fantastic time.  More pictures available here

And before I close, I have to share a great picture of a handsome little guy who insisted on sitting with me and R2-D2 

The challenge of doing charity work

My R2-D2 and I have been doing a variety of pediatric visits, charity work, school visits and much more since November of 2011.  

Hard to believe it has been almost 4 years!  In that time, I have made numerous modifications, enhancements, repairs and even had to replace the frame due to a crack forming from all our travels!

I built R2-D2 with pediatric visits in mind.  I had no idea how much my community would embrace this little droid!  The invites to events started coming in and over the past few years, I have been pleased to do as many as I could.

On the Pro side of things, we have helped many charities draw in a crowd, which of course means more monies coming in.  I've had a chance to meet a lot of amazing kids, patients, families and so much more.

On the Con side, I've learned how frustrating it can be to volunteer your time and not feel appreciated for doing so.

I've watched kids and young adults beat, kick, poke, pull and willfully damage what's taken me years to build.  I've been asked to bring R2 for events where no one would assist me in unloading or even finding a parking space close to the event. 

On a few occasions, we haven't even been thanked for the time, planning and effort that goes into bringing R2 to an event.  Or, worse, is when I go through great expense and planning to participate in an event, only to be bad-mouthed by the organizer afterwards.  Very frustrating.

But I want to emphasize that the GOOD experiences are much, much greater than the BAD.  

I've spent a few months reflecting on how to handle some of the events that could have worked out better.  As suggested by some friends, in the planning stages of the event, I establish what I will need.  Some muscle to help with unloading and loading, a place close to the location to park and arrange for some chaperons to ward off curious hands that damage R2.  And this works well!  

So with all of that said, I have decided to scale back all the events I do for a while.  I have politely declined a few requests recently simply because I have so much going on (work, school, life!).  I truly enjoy making the kids smile and helping the many good causes that come my way.  But for the short term, we're going to enjoy some down time and recharge our batteries.

Shine On, Wynter Fundraiser

On May 30th, R2-D2 and I were special guests for a Silent Auction and Fundraiser for Wynter.

Wynter was recently diagnosed with a type of childhood cancer, called ALL, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.  Her First Grade teacher, Kathy Crawford, organized this wonderful event with the help of co-workers and my good friend, Melissa Gerety.  Melissa was spectacular at organizing our ToyRaiser last December and I was thrilled she agreed to help us with this cause!

The event was held at the school, which is a huge, new facility for Grades K-8.  The school gym hosted many tables of donated items for auction.  There was a picture booth for the kids to dress up and take goofy photos in.

And of course, R2-D2 was a special guest!  I had a few volunteers available to help protect R2-D2 from wandering hands trying to pull or push delicate electronics in.  I got to focus on controlling R2 while they were the crowd control.

To help raise money for Wynter's climbing medical bills, in addition to the auction, R2-D2 was accepting donations for pictures.

After the event wrapped up, the "team" posed for a picture with R2-D2

R2-D2, Darrell Crawford,  Paul J. Bussiere and Kathy Crawford

And I had a chance to get a picture with Wynter as well.  Due to her weakened immune system, she was sporting gloves, mask and head scarf.

Paul J. Bussiere, R2-D2 and Wynter

I may not get to attend all the fantastic CONs and Conventions I read all about...but it certainly is a privilege to help out a wonderful family.

Repairing the body to dome power connection

A couple weeks ago, R2-D2 and I were invited to the University of Maine Advanced Manufacturing Center, where we had a private tour of their facilities.  We had a fantastic time seeing all the amazing equipment they have.  I mean, a room full for CNC machines, fabrication equipment and advanced 3D printers?  Amazing!  Plus we got to meet some of the humanoid and advanced surgical robot designs they are prototyping.  

As you can see from the picture above...where's R2's dome lights?  Well, R2 and I drove around campus, building to building.  The sidewalks were pretty rough and all the bouncing around took out the power connection.  I didn't have a chance to get inside R2 to find the source of the problem.  I thought a fuse took the hit or perhaps a wire popped out of the many crimp down connections that the lighting system uses.

Fast forward to now, a few weeks later...and I finally have a chance to investigate.  

Turns out the slip right connection simply popped off.  The DB25 connection used to stay together with friction but, well, we proved that's a bad idea!

Disconnected!  That's why the dome has no power.  The dome power cable (female DB25 on left) popped off the slip ring connector (right, male DB25)

Put back together, now a 0.50 inch hex head screw has been threaded into each side so it stays put now!

Using two 0.50 inch he head screws, the connectors are now bolted together.

A quick test with the multi meter shows the dome fuse block now has power.  I attached the dome and the power cord into the dome fuse block.  Viola!  We have lighting again!

My PechaKucha Presentation

Back in August, I gave a PechaKucha presentation about my R2-D2

If you aren't familiar with PechaKucha, its a presentation format of 20 images, 20 seconds each.  The website does a better job elaborating on the format but by condensing the picture count and commentary, more presentations can be presented!  

Telling the story of how I got into building my R2-D2 isn't easy, especially if I have R2 with me.  R2 is a huge distraction, so its only natural that people want to know how long it took to build, how much it weighs and so on.  Seldom do I get to share the backstory...and I think this presentation, despite the short time limits, allows me to do it fairly well!

Here's the link to My PechKucha Presentation!