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Jan 5 2001 - Here is my body so far. The skin was laid out on 0.125" Styrene sheet and 
the holes cut out. This weakened certain areas so I added thinner styrene sheets to the 
cut out areas. I tried to roll the skin but it did not want to obey. I got these steel lids from 
work. They are 16Ga steel. I cut out the inner circle to use inside the skins. It worked 
out that I also got the outer rings, which I needed to keep the body round as I added the 
inner rings. There are 4 inner rings that were glued in. This was done to avoid having 
to put screws through the skin to attach to a frame.

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Here is a close up of the inner rings. The writing on the top is not mine but was on the
lid when I got it. The lid had several ridges pressed in which made it relatively
strong. The holes in the rings were cut out after all the rings were glued in. The styrene
spacers were added for the next step. You can see slits in the inside of the ring edge.
This was done so I could bend this back onto itself to make a stronger lip.

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Here are my legs and feet moving along.

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As you saw before in the body shot I added styrene inner bulkheads and closed them 
off. I then injected them with foam. The purpose of this was to try and produce a strong 
inner body and give the skin something to hold onto instead of only the rings.

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Looking down into the body you can see the excess foam oozing out. To me this is a 
good sight as this was supposed to mean that the inner cavities were full. I found out 
later on that this was not true.

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Foam everywhere. Do not touch this stuff as it sticks to everything. It is best to wait 
until it is dry before attempting to remove the excess foam.

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 To inspect the insides of the bulkheads I drilled holes into the first ring and looked in. 
It turns out that most of them were empty. I think it was the brand I was using. 
Another brand I used filled the bulkheads very well.

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The frame so far. The frame has not been pinned yet so everything 
can fall apart any second. The yellow screwdriver below the from 
middle foot keep the thing from falling. The middle foot is also 
screwed to the frame. Later on I will change it so it can travel 
up and down.

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Close up of the foot. There are 3 casters in the middle foot. Unfortunately the two back 
ones are too close to the center and the foot tends to tip when going backwards. I will 
have to reposition these.

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Close up of the frame and shoulder. So far nothing keeps the bar in position 
side to side and at the proper angle.

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Rear shot of the frame.

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Close up of the foot. I tried to install a caster inside so that I would not have to pin 
the ankle but I haven't been able to solve it for now so I will have to pin the ankle for now.

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MARCH 2001
Here is a close up of my electronics board. Running out of time I had to quickly 
mount everything inside R2. It is actually very convenient to have all the electronics 
on a removable board. The board is a Lexan sheet that is mounted to my middle leg. 
No 1 are the two speed controllers for my motors. 
No 2 is the RC receiver. 
No 3 are the two 12VDC 7AH gel cell batteries. 
No 4 is the batteries for the receiver. 
No 5 are 7A fuses for the batteries. 
Initially I had one for each battery but later 
changed it to one for the 24VDC motors.

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Here is a closeup of the shoulder area. I have a 1" dia aluminum rod 
connecting the left and right side of the legs. Again because of a deadline 
I had to pin the legs in position. In location No 1 I first installed brass 
rods to hold the legs in the correct position for 3 legged mode held by 
these small brackets. My first attempts sheared these as if they were 
toothpicks. I replaced these with steel bolts. I also added a second pin 
at location No 2supported by a section of aluminum square tubing.

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A shot of the frame as it rolled around. No 1 is my middle foot made out 
of shelving angle welded together. I first cut and riveted the parts together 
to get the desired dimensions. I then had the parts tack welded for strength. 
No 2 is my steel square tubing frame. The main vertical parts are made of 
2x4s while the two main horizontal bars are 1x2 square tubing.


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Here is a picture of my new 3" caster in my middle foot. I found that on my R2 
the 3 smaller casters had problems going over certain bumps. I also noticed 
some damage to two of the wheels after only a few days of running.

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Another view showing the swing of my 3" caster.

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Edge view showing the gap from the wheel to the skirt.

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Here is a 4" caster that I wanted to put in the middle foot. 
I only found out later that it was too big.

Here is a picture of the crew who were involved in the stage show. I am the photographer so
that is why I am not in the picture. I built the X-Wings and Tie Interceptors. The guy holding
the Falcon (Derek) built it. So with These ships and R2 life was a bit busy. A very fun time

Here is R2 in stage. The sketch was called "The Empire Strikes Back To The Future". It is a
cheesy time travel episode where young Luke falls for Queen Amadela. From left to right, R2D2,
Princess Leia (Star Wars - A New Hope), Princess Leia (The Empire Strikes Back), Princess Leia
(Return of The Jedi), Han Solo (Checking out the Princess) and part of Obi-Wan