November 10 2001
A local Hobby Show just passed last weekend. Our model car club displays there every year.
To prepare for it I wanted to get a few more features working. I designed a new dome rotating
system and it works fairly well. I also got the lights in the dome working. I didn't get the
control of the CD working and had problems with my Switch 16 so I could not control the lights by remote.

Responses to my R2 was very good . At one point the people were 3 deep watching R2 flash,
turn, move his head and make sound every so often.

Seeing the kids (and adults) eyes light up made it worth while staying up those late nights last week to finish
the lights. There were two kids that really stuck out. One boy was about 7 and he knew everything
about R2. He knew what came out from which panel. He was over the moon when he got a chance to touch my R2.

The other was a girl about 5-6 who also wanted to touch R2. She was very well behaved and stayed
behind the barrier that was set up. I saw her reaching out for R2 so I drove him right up to her.
She then gave R2 a hug and didn't let go for about 10 minutes. This was a bit surprising since
most kids just touch it and then let go. I was afraid to move R2 so I just turned his head a
little every so often. Her dad was very patient standing there.

I wish I had a Polaroid then I would have taken a picture of R2 and the kid and given it to the kids.

The blue and green lights arrays are copied from Christina's and Martin's system. There are
24 green and 24 blue LEDs. The green LEDs are flashing ones. Each one is wired to a single blue LED.
When the green LED flashes the blue one will also flash. The slight variation of the flashing rates
will make the blue and green arrays appear random.

The two circular lights that fade from red to blue in the front and green to yellow on the back
are $8.50 unit purchased from an electronics source.
http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/ tell them you are looking for a dual flashing unit for a 1:1 R2D2
and they should know what you need.

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r220.jpg

Here is a picture of my R2 at the show with his new lights. The blue LEDs are nice and bright
as well as the ones under the main eye

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r221.jpg

Here is another view but now the light under the main eye is blue instead of red.

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r223.jpg

Here is the green display at the rear. It looks like only a few of them are on but this is
the blinking function. This 2X12 array is made up of 24 green flashing LEDs

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r224.jpg

Here is a closeup of the Dave E main eye and the Jeremy resin HP.

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r225.jpg

Another view of the main eye and resin HPs

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r226.jpg

Here is a closeup of the blue lights. There are two 3x4 arrays of blue LEDs. In front of the blue
LEDs to diffuse them is a section of the diffuser from a fluorescent light fixture. The surround
for the blue LEDs is styrene painted with Alclad polished aluminum. Instead of a gloss black acrylic
base I used metallic dark blue.

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r227.jpg

Here is the underside of my dome. My rockler bearing is mounted to my dome which I would not
recommend. For this reason my dome rotating motor is mounted to my dome. To make things easier to
transport this motor comes off. Wiring is rough. Later on I will tidy it up.

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r228.jpg

Here is a closeup of one of the dual flashing lights. The surround is made of styrene. The flashing
unit is fairly small.

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r229.jpg

This is the backside of the green diognostic lights. The 2x12 array has been soldered to wires
and then sealed in hot glue to act as strain relief for the 22 ga wires.

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r230.jpg

The rear of the blue lights on the left. The main holoeye with a clear lens at the moment and
the smaller dual flasher to the right of this. On the far right is the resin HPs sealed in with epoxy.
It looks messy but works. The main holo eye is held in with 4 bolts that were glued to the resin holoeye.

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r231.jpg

Here is a closeup of how my dome rotating motor is mounted. The wheel runs against the inner
bearing while the motor is mounted to the outer bearing. The motor mount is slotted so there
is some tension adjustment to make sure there is enough friction from the wheel to turn the dome.

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r232.jpg

Here is the other side. The motor and gearbox was a part purchased from an electronics surplus
store. The motor turns the two hex shaped slots. I used one fo these slots to put a threaded rod
through. A nut that fits into the hex slot is glued to the threaded rod. The wheel is then attached
to the threaded rod.

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r233.jpg

The motor unit separate from the dome. As I stated before I put my bearing on my dome due to a
deadline when it would be better mounted to the body. This way the motor can be mounted permanently.

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r234.jpg

Another shot of the motor and mount. My motor mount has a brass sleeve for the threaded rod.
This was added to prevent stress from the wheel against the dome from being transmitted to the
(plastic) gearbox abnd wearing it out. I didn't want the threaded rod to press against the aluminum
bracket because I was sure it would wear it out due to the softer metal. The brass rod is stronger
and I can pack it with grease.

r235.jpg
r235.jpg

The side with the wheel. The wheel is held on with a pin. This would allow me to take the wheel
off for repairs if needed.

If you want to build your own R2 go here --http://groups.yahoo.com/group/r2builders

or here --http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/astromechs

for an R7 go here --http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/r7droidbuilders

Email me ask@interlog.com