ALPHABOTS Latest Topics

Alphabot Build Two Is Underway.

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:56:54 +0000

I took a trip out to the metal shop today an placed the order for the lasor cut metal parts. I also ordered all the gear motor units, resin for casting, chain sprockets, brass, well the list goes on and on. Materials have been ordered! This build is under way. Also I just recieved a email from Andy that he has the f ten video segments done on building the AlphaBot, they can be used as a suppliment to the NEW BUILD INSTRUCTIONS posted here on Alphadrome.

http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/index.php?showtopic=9518

Here is part 1 of the video build instructions. Any one with a high speed connection check them out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb-0oqOxu8s

Video build instructions part 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK5OHwPlyDQ...feature=channel

Video build instructions part 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElstmP6GpGA...feature=channel

Video build instructions part 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxTyMb4g1Zw...feature=channel

Video build instructions part 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-I9w42ENk...feature=channel

Video build instructions part 6.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQZJ6tWc8Wg...feature=channel

Video build instructions part 7.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrkoPc3gAlY...feature=channel

Video build instructions part 8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE8KjLmuw6Y...feature=channel

Video build instructions part 9.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzamo3mgexc...feature=channel

Video build instructions part 10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8ZB5kFI5S4...feature=channel

Alphadrome Robot Arrived ! ! !

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 02:32:54 +0000

HeLLo eVeRYoNe :

I JuST GoT My RoBoT iN tHe Mail .

THaNK YoU

RoBeRT JoHNSoN & Mr. HaYes

A TRULY WONDERFULL

ADDITION TO MY COLLECTION

RECIEVING #o2 HAS TOTALY BLOWN MY MIND

ONCE AGAIN THANKS

and

MERRY CHRISTMAS

-Cliff-

:lol: RoBoTs-RuLe!!

Tank

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:46:31 +0000

Tank, 9 1/2" with rotating head turret, arms, wrists and removable shells. Originally developed by a covert company during World War 1, Tank was sure to turn the tide of the war. Unfortunately, artificial intelligence was a brand new science and it did not match the craftsmanship that went into the automaton. Tank pretty much shot at anything that moved...including his own creators! It's not clear what became of Tank. Some say he was deactivated, boxed up and buried deep in the rubble of the destroyed building. Others say that after Tank ran out of ammo he merely kept walking making a "click, click" sound into the sunset. Recent excavations at the original site have turned up empty.

Alpha Striders arrive!

Fri, 27 May 2016 14:19:39 +0000

Postie came today with a parcel for me from the genius robot builder that is.......Mr Rigg. As always, truly amazing, they get better and better. These robots are once again stunning in their design and actions. Very cleverly made and work perfectly.

Thanks again John and Ken for the great box art.

Alphadrome Robot

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:11:25 +0000

The first I've seen for sale. It brings back fond memories. Alphadrome Strenco

New members might enjoy the story of its creation.http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/topic/1736-alphadrome-lilited-editon-st-1/

Jaw's Alphabot Project

Mon, 22 Sep 2014 19:53:51 +0000

I managed to find enough materials to build 5 of these Metal battery operated JAW's AlphaBot robots. The bodys , nose and antennas are metal the arms are plastic and the feet are resin. The 2 AAA battery holder is plastic and located on the back. The eyes are chrome metal with back lit ruby red glass. The jaws are resin. The paint finish is a nice random black wrinkle. I will keep one for the Hut but the other 4 will need to find homes

so email me at robothut "@" yahoo.com if interested. Will I build more ? I don't know they are alot of work to make and I do have other new projects that I would like to do.

Here is a 60 second you tube of all five bots running at the same time.

http://youtu.be/awnqJ4YzsMA

The box art is modified MOON RAKER poster artwork in honor of JAW's.

This bots are the same scale as the wind up AlphaBots.

Pneumatic AlphaBot test

Tue, 22 Jul 2014 21:08:34 +0000

I thought it might be worth trying to build a AlphaBot that was Pneumatic in operation. Again using the vintage camera shutter pneumatic release systems that can still be bought out there "but you do have to rebuild them as the grease on the driver piston has hardened up and replace it with silicon lube". I had a few front and back partas from the first AlphaBot robots so used those for the test. What I learned is that a much smaller robot would work better but I was able to make a robot that can walk forward and has a moving meter in the chest and eyes that change color all by just squeezing a remote hand bulb.

Here is a you tube of the bot.

http://youtu.be/U5TUyq6TU9I

here is a Robothut page on it.

http://www.robothut.robotnut.com/PneumaticAlphaBot1.html

building the Wind Up AlphaBot 2014

Sun, 01 Jun 2014 01:07:50 +0000

thought I would share the building of a Wind up Alphabot. this is what I did 24 times, thats counting the 3 prototypes. And I would have built more if the latest Lillupt wind up robots that I use for there wind up guts wern't such crap compared to the original repro from a few years back.

So all winter long I was thinking about a wind up Alphabot build but every time I would go out to the shop to play with the idea the cold weather would change my mind, so it was not until April that I did go out and grab two junker wind up Lilliputs from my parts room and start the design work on the computer. Once it is layed out in the DRAW program and all the parts are checked and test fitted I then would print out the inside body parts on thick card stock. I also printed on a photo quality plastic film the out side body skin and the art work for the top of the box. Both of these will then get a clear coat spray so that the ink jet photo printing will not run if gotten wet.

Wind Up AlphaBot project

Tue, 08 Apr 2014 00:59:55 +0000

I have wanted to do a wind up AlphaBot robot project for some time now but the cold winter stopped me from playing with the idea until now. I have built two prototypes. The White prototype was the first to be built. They are based on using the wind up guts from a Liliput robot. They are 6 inches tall. On the white robot I made the arms attach by using magnets so that the left arm could be removed so that the wind up key could be inserted, On the second robot I screwed the arms on, the robots Left arm can pivot up so that the key can be inserted. I think the screw on arm is the way to go. The robot is covered in plastic photo film so that ink jet printers can be used to detail and "Paint" the robots.I did not add a STOP / GO lever, but I think the robot should have one so if I make more robots then I will play around with the idea of a antenna rod that can be used to control the action. The robot does not have a name yet so ideas are welcome for that and Ken might want to try his hand at some box artwork. If a custom box was made for the robot it would have a top area of 6.75 inches by 5.5 inches. It seems like the project could be done low cost say around $35 bucks, with a max price maybe as high as $45 .Shipping would be extra and what ever USPS charges at the time. So is this a project that you guys might want to be involved with? feed back, questions and ideas welcome.

you Tube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNDevRzSNqg&feature=share&list=UU3WEwAKUPsIt1eZRBHBAFbg

Alphabot Ramp Walker BSX

Tue, 28 May 2013 16:21:35 +0000

Here's part of the SWAG of Botstock X, thank you John Rigg for your extreme time and effort in creating this incredible design and Ken Knetzel for the wonderful graphics. Unbelievable.

Alphabot Rockin Walker proto has arrived

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 21:19:44 +0000

John, the Alphabot Rockin Walker proto arrived yesterday and he's amazing! Smooth action and lots o' fun! Love it! Everyone is charmed by it.

Proudly displayed among my Botstock 8 poster and pug. Thanks again! -Steve

Alpha-Rock-Bot The Alphabot Guitar Project

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:21:09 +0000

I started with a Washburn guitar that was new but had cosmetic damage so I was able to get it cheep. Then I cut off the sides of the guitar so that the new Alphabot front and back body parts that are made of alluminum would fit. The new side fill parts are wood. The eyes are LED lit. The arm / claws can be removed or swapped around to have the logo arm look or the arms up look. The arms up look is better for playing, well the arms off is best for playing. The feet are plastic and resin and work realy well as built in guitar stands.

Link to more info.

http://www.robothut.robotnut.com/AlphabotGuitarPage.html

Special Alphabots For Ricardo

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:50:54 +0000

From the beginning of the project,Ricardo wanted an Alphabot. However he was out of the country and very disappointed that He had missed the cutoff. I told him, write to John, there might be a slight chance He can build one. He did and after exhausting Email and fax exchanges, I think John used a vulcan mind melt method to figure it all ,,,,,today He got the photo's of the finished bots. They are beautiful. The green one He had built in the flag colors of Brazil.

John, I haven't heard him more excited since ,,,,,, well I can't remember. :P As Ricardo would say,,,,Tango,Kilo,Sierra or TKS. ;)

My Alphabot #1

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:28:39 +0000

Well, here he is ... My first of 2 kits.

I must say again, the amount of work put into these guys is awesome!

John and Andy, I bow before you. You have put together a super robot kit !!

And thanks to Nikola Tesla for the great original design that started it all !

I decided to leave this one bare metal, just polished it up with some Blue Magic.

(It's much shinier than the pic makes it look.)

I wanted both antennas to spin, so I made a new longer horizontal one and ran the shaft

all the way through, then used a couple spare Chief Robotman antenna assemblies to mount it all.

I added some chrome eye rings, replaced the single chest bulb with 12 flashing LEDs, and painted

all the assembly screws red for contrast.

Thats about it, really. Didn't want to muck up such a clean design.

(Number 2, however, might be a different story)

I'll get a video posted later, my camera battery ran out taking this pic ...

Alphabot - He's Here!

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:25:28 +0000

WOW and OMG!!!!!!! He is fabulous. Everything about him is perfect -from his look - heft -gait and remote. John perhaps your best creation yet!! Thx!!!

Let me add that John's packing job worked - my little friend arrived safe and sound!!!

Alphabot Build Instructions

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:47:17 +0000

I need a place to start compiling the build instructions for the AlphaBot project. So hold off adding any posts to this thread until I get done with the basic instructions. Then you can all post all you want with questions and comments and that way I can go back to my instructions posts and make changes and addtions so that in the end anyone that reads this post will see the instruction first and other replys after. Like say it will take some time so be patient.

There will be more information here than you will need to build the robot. I will include information about how some parts are made that you will not have to deal with but you might find interesting.

Here is a basic order for assembling the robot. I will cover each topic in detail.

1 Paint the metal and resin parts

2 Assemble the motor gear box and drive linkage.

3 Detail the body front part.

4 Screw the back and side parts together.

5 Build the flasher switches.

6 Install the switches and antenna mount part.

7 Assemble Arms and arm linkage.

8 Install Motor gear box and pin walk pivot plate.

9 wire up Motor, lights, switches and remote power cable.

10 Install Horn

11 Install antenna sprocket and chain.

12 Lube linkage.

13 Screw on body front

14 Install feet.

15 Built remote control unit.

First Alphabot Kit Is Completed!

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:22:52 +0000

John was kind enough to select me as one of the "beta builders" of the two remaining Alphabot kits. I think anyone with intermediate skill levels or that anyone with basic soldering skills will have no problems assembling this bad boy. My free time was limited so it took about three nights to build it. I could have easily done it in a day. Well, outside the paint drying time. I didn't use filler on the resin parts so you'll see some pock marks on the claws. I was too eager to finish it so I'll attend to those later. I gave my report to John for future build instructions so more details will come out then. Once the other "beta builder" reports in we can finalize the kit set and build instructions. Now to work on the box.

Here's a video of it in action. Alphabot video.

Sorry, no color correction.

Alphabot Box Design?

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:03:57 +0000

I hope I am not overstepping my bounds, nobody has asked me to do this...but it was based on suggestions in my AlphaBot picture post. So I got the idea to play around in Corel and come up with a box design just to throw it out there. Keep in mind, nothing is set in stone here. Anything can be changed...color, proportion, text...so this is just an idea.

He's Here....alphabot #1

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:49:42 +0000

Ladies & Gentlemen, I present for your approval...Alphabot Robot #1 from that Grand Master of all robot builders, the incredible John Rigg!! I just don't know how to begin to let you know how much I love this robot, John.

Hey, wait a minute, I do know! I'll buy another one! LOL!! I think I've got to have that Radicon inspired style Alphabot John has in his website post. Hope that wasn't some sort of one-off special deals with no duplicates allowed since I love all things Radicon. And he'll look awesome next to my other Radicon inspired robots John has built for me over the years. ;)

Of course, Zsa-Zsa, our new black kitty doesn't quite feel the same about Alphabot. I would post a pic of her once we powered him up, but she took off like a bat out of hell as soon as he lit up! LOL!!! :D

Silver Alphabot

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:27:08 +0000

My silver Alphabot arrived today, and all I can say is, "Wow!" Thanks John -- you did an outstanding job! I also want to thank Nikola Tesla for coming up with such a great design in the first place!

The first thing I noticed when taking the toy out of the box is how hefty it is -- there's nothing rickety or "homemade" about it. It really feels like a production piece. The actions worked perfectly from the moment I popped in the batteries: Alphabot walks forward and back smoothly on his pin mechanism, and the pivoting feet add a neat twist to the original design. The arms swing in time with the walking, without any of the sticking or lag we sometimes find on even the new tin robots. The spinning antenna, light-up eyes and grill, and vintage buzzer are great, and give the Alphabot a suitably old-school vibe.

All in all, the Alphabot perfectly captures the spirit of the original robots that we all love so much. It really is a great toy, and I appreciate all the work that went into making it happen.

The Alphadrome Robot Project. Alpha-bot

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:34:27 +0000

For all you newbies, here is a thread link about makeing a custom ST-1 robot for Alphadrom members, the thread led to A LOGO design by Nikola Tesla (Charles Miller) that has been used on posters and T shirts ever since. But back in that same thread Robot HUnter asked a question about makeing a custom Alphadrom robot based on the LOGO design. I think it could be done if enought members wanted a custion Alphadrom robot. I will add some prototype pictures and drawings later so we can talk about the possible project. So check out the thread, here is a link.

http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/index.ph...c=1067&st=0

and go to page 3 and post #52 to see when the LOGO was born, then go to page 5 post# 96 to see Pats comment on the robot project.

Just seems like there are enoght builders here now that we could divide up the parts build to keep the costs very low. We could also have some fun with different details, like paint jobs, decals. How about one that looks to be made of wood or is made of wood, or riveted metal or any other type material but keeping with the original design.

Couple Of New Bots From Lil' O' Me

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:44:59 +0000

First guy is Zee. The wifey brought home a spent paper shredder from her work and it had all these neat little shredding gears in it. Great for Andybot feet. It's a nice break from the usual more labor intensive fabricated feet. CAlled "Zee" because he sports a Zenith vacuum tube for a head. Originally he's was gonna be called "G.E." but I accidentally broke that tube. Bummer...second time I've done that!

Here's a different look for an Andybot. Inspired by my frustration with the stupid light bulbs that go into my stove mounted microwave oven. It takes two bulbs that cost $3 each and they burn out after about a month. Normally the bulbs go an opaque silver grey when they go but these two stayed clear. That did it! You two slacker bulbs shall serve in the afterlife as Andybot eyes! When I finished up "Mechno", his style reminded me of a robot Ming the Merciless would send after Flash Gordon. Therefore I tagged him with the "Evil Robot Henchman" subtitle. Built around a Chai tea container, his head and shoulders pop off to reveal a space for a secret stash.

I also have a pretty cool Super Saucer done that I will upload later. I don't have any of the pics here at work.

Papasan Members Robots For 2007

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 07:31:43 +0000

"Papa-San is also thinking about making a new members robot for 2007. A Limited Chief Robotman might be cool with a new style finish

I will talk with Brian about this project.

Thank you

Robert Johnson / Papa-San Toys Company "

I lifted this from the new robots section since I wasn't allowed to post a reply to it. If this is true and Robert Johnson is again going to be sending us robots then I want to the first to say THANKS!!!

Actually, I would be happy to pay for this robot. I think if we had a special Limited Edition dated Alphadrome Robot done every year it would make for awesome collectibles to add to our collections. Now I can be just like my wife who eagerly waits every year to see what special Hallmark Christmas Ornaments will be coming out. We can look forward to a new Alphadrome Robot every year. I thought when Volker did the Alphadrome Robots back in 2004 that we were going to be doing this exact thing every year but it never happened again.

And I've seen the special SWAG robots that are given out at the Bot-Stock Conventions but not all of us can get away to attend. So this would be a great idea for the rest of us.

What does everybody else think?

Alphadrome Robby From Planet Hayes

Sat, 18 Feb 2006 19:24:47 +0000

What could this be? Prehaps a vision of some dark force at work defiling the false gods we worship? What unthankful savage would toy with an golden idol worshiped and envied by so many others? What manner of sacrilege is this!

Or maybe it's was just a boring robot. Not at I didn't appreciate it. But it needed some, well, something. More to follow.......

Papasan Robots

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 00:11:55 +0000

Maybe Brian will delete this

(but please don't this is a fair post).

Perhaps members that received one will flame me on this, that's fine, however,

I don't have a problem not getting a freebie much less did I expect or quite frankly want one.

My issue is with the Papasan web site stating that alphadrome members received one. Obviously they picked & chose who they sent it to (or will send it to) as is their perogative, so state it correctly some members we decided to offer a free robot to . Period. Not posting this to start any BS since it's been fairly peaceful here but don't use the a small portion of the alpha membership here to come off as some altruistic benevolent business.

For the record. The way Strauss Toys used input from members to design a special edition for us or Osaka had an ebay logo litho'd on robby for a special auction is fine by me.

For accuracy's sake those that did not receive any robot feel free to post here.