Ranger Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 On Halloween my wife found a photo of someone who had built this amazing robot. It turns out he lives less than 3 miles away from me. I have only spoke to the guy- Russell by phone once and a couple of emails. I am looking forward to meeting both him and Franko when the current lockdown ends. Anyway, he is happy for me to post here about his amazing creation and the text Russell sent to me about robot follows by photos of the robot under construction and finally standing outside on Halloween. A great robot, I think you will agree. Russell had the robot blowing bubbles for the kid’s. ————————————- I started building it early this year, using as a guide a few measurements I could discern from online images and films, however lacking a set scale to start with mine is slightly taller at just over 8 feet tall. It is a composite made of ply, timber, (all treated) alloy sheet, and other materials that are easy to obtain. Eventually the arms will move and I have some tow motor assemblies ready for that job. The bearing for the head to rotate on came from a tank, but its rather heavy when added to the weight of the head, it was all I had to hand, however since obtaining a book from the USA I am able to see much more detail on the construction, so plan to remove this and fit a smaller lighter bearing. The jaw moves, and the eyes light up with normal screw in lamp holders. I also have a motor to operate the neck and plan to obtain a worm gear motor to allow the neck to tilt in the same way the original robot did. The hands are at present fixed although the fingers are hinged, and I may change the method of hinging the arms to improve the action a little more. The legs are 4 feet tall and I need to find time to complete the fabrication of the shoes. When the robot is completed I plan to make the robot easy to disassemble and reassemble and my brother is going to design some software to allow voice recognition to operate. I plan to keep the robot and improve it, and use it for charitable events to raise money. I designed the head to be made in slices, my friend mike is an artist and he sculpted it for me, however he wanted to glue all of the timber together and par it way using a variety of chisels, although the correct way to do it, being an artist he has no conception of time or deadlines, so after I explained things to him, and threatened to do it myself (badly) he drew the head on a graph paper, then drew sections like a jigsaw, this allow us to pre form a lot of the curves and to save time cutting away solid timber. It’s much easier with 20mm thick sheets and a jigsaw and once this was done he finished it with hand tools and a machine tool for sculpting timber. After flatting down and filling and a few sealer coats it was painted gold. The rear of the head unscrews exactly as per the original, this gives access to the wiring, the pipes for the smoke machine, and the jaw motor. Also the rear of the torso has a removable panel just like the original and the legs are formed from a framework of timbers and ply formers and clad in alloy, as are the arms. Russell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROBODUDE Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 WOW !!!! What an Amazing Project--WELL DONE !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Beautiful craftsmanship and what a great project! He's a true kid at heart... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 It’s brilliant isn’t it. . I am looking forward to visiting Russell and seeing Franko in a couple of weeks- hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Fantastic Project -Congrats! Great shape and big size!!! His head i love the most! Beautiful! Its a Westinghouse type Robot like Elektro...isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roboz Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 WOW ! That's stunning !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 13 hours ago, Dirk said: Fantastic Project -Congrats! Great shape and big size!!! His head i love the most! Beautiful! Its a Westinghouse type Robot like Elektro...isn't it? Hi Dirk, yes it is like Elektro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboDerby Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Just fantastic!! What a cool neighbor. Of course when you go to meet him, wouldn’t it be cool to show off your fresh new hand made metal robot? Better get cracking’! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 2 hours ago, Dirk said: Fantastic Project -Congrats! Great shape and big size!!! His head i love the most! Beautiful! Its a Westinghouse type Robot like Elektro...isn't it? Exactly Dirk; it's a pretty accurate facsimile too! All that's missing is "Sparko" the robot dog... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogonza Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 I love it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Imagination and ability on a grand scale. That's fabulous, Paul. You need an understanding wife (or no wife) to build something like that outside the house. A wife who doesn't mind the neighbours knowing her husband is an enthusiast (aka lunatic.) My wife would tie me up inside it, add petrol and give me a Wicker Man send off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROBODUDE Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Mine too Brian ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Well done! That amount of work requires a high level of dedication that shows in the results. You have to admire the craftsmanship as well. Looking forward to more pictures when it's complete. Maybe a video of it in action. Thanks Paul! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 Hi If I can call around and see Russell and Franko in a couple of weeks when the lockdown here ends (hopefully!) I will take some video. footage. Russell may have some already, I will ask him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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