Meet Franko the 8 foot tall Robot

[Jonydroid]

Wowwwww that´s fantastic 

what an amazing job you did with the Elektro? i love that robot

congrat´s this is something else, and special ...

very well done Paul.

[Ranger]

Hi Joao

Yes joao, it’s amazing but unfortunately it’s not my robot, the builder of it is a guy named Russell who lives a couple of miles away from me.  If you go back to the beginning of the thread you will find out more.

[Franko]

Many thanks to Ranger for putting up my pictures and words

I decided to join the forum, as I thought that the pool of useful knowledge would be helpful, especially amongst those who restore early arcade and robot toys as my electronic skills are minimal, despite being an electrician, I grew up in the electromechanical age and am not interested in high tech stuff

 

At the Moment Franko head and mountings have been removed, when I first started building him in lockdown I only had a few images, and short sections of film to work with

I now realise that the design of the neck is wrong, since purchasing a very hard to get book from the USA, I now have a wealth of images and a great deal more background info to work from

I sourced some very good rubber covered caster wheels and fitted them to the old leg mounting plate, to make a skid, I can now move his torso around easily, previously I have him mounted on a mechanics creeper, but he kept falling off as the wheels stuck, this will be used to move him about in future when taking him out to events

 

I have also constructed a yoke to allow the neck to pivot, and upon this the large radial bearing sits, allowing the neck to rotate, its not quite finished yet, as I need to further enlarge the hole in the torso to allow clearance for it to rock, I do have a relative who is a very skilled engineer, and I was hoping that he might take time to visit his ancient uncle and give him some advice, but he is rather busy with work, his ravishing girlfriend and his new motorcycle !!

so sketches made on an old pad, a few measurements, then a bit of trial and error and away, mostly with old fashioned hand tools to prevent waking up the small children next door

I managed to source some lovely bearings to tilt the neck, by purchasing an overhaul kit designed for a 3D printer ( what ever that is ??), for a modest 25 pounds I ended up with a large box of useful components of high quality, I could have used cheaper stuff but I want Franko to last, my intention being to use him at schools, and fetes and charity events

being self employed means work comes first, plus my daughters book me for building works in their properties ( neither of their husbands are practical with hand tools)

so when I get an odd hour I do a little, because its trial and error, I constantly come up against problems that a normal intelligent person would have foreseen, but its a learning curve

here are a few rubbish pictures showing the yoke and upper bearing, hopefully tomorrow, I can enlarge the hole in the torso and work out where to install the support battens for the bearings, then I have to design a quick release method of installing and removing the head quickly, also to make a storage/transport box to protect it from damage and light fingered people ( its heavy), prviously it had a tank bearing to rotate it, but the bearing weighed 7.5 K, that has been recycled into a paperweight for my engineering nephew !

 

 

the old skid

 

 

Frankos new wheels ( Machine Mart 2.99 each)

 

 

Skid finished ready for fixing

 

 

four screws from inside locate it

 

 

support bearings for the arms, there is a second bearing inside, to prevent side thrust

 

the old cctv camera, that will now be relocated inside his chest, perhaps to link via a mobile phone

 

the white pipe pumped smoke out of his ears, however the smoke machine failed early, so perhaps buy a better one or make my own

 

 

a pair of computer speakers mounted up high and a computer monitor to give an old electronic looking image through the chest

the speakers will be relocated in the base, and the monitor is history, I have an idea for the opening ( more later)

 

 

this is where I will fit a black grille, behind which some old valve type thingies will glow

 

 

 

 

 

masses of wires to remove, only a few will go back

 

 

 

all brackets and clips have now been removed, but are ready to go back for his new wiring harness

 

view out from inside, the internals are all painted matt black, this gives it an aura of mystery and hides the details

 

quite a few of these cables will be reduntant, my brother plans to use blackberry pies or something to trigger the motor relays

 

 

old opening for cables and pipes to head, notice the support battens through which the origional head assembly was secured

 

less is more

 

 

some black grille, designed for vulgar custom motorcars with loud exhausts

 

One day I might get to my car , but its useful for storing all the little boxes of components

 

Frankos legs awaiting the final work on the feet

 

 

 

 

Frankos says high !

 

after that work out how to fit the tilt and rotate motors

then start on the arms

I can see this taking some time !!, hopefully when the weather is better, my very skilled and artistic friend Mike can pop over to show me where I have gone wrong, and give me some advice , he has retired now so I like to get him out for the day and feed him properly !

 

[Franko]

 

The Torso before I enlarged the opening

 

There were some hidden screw filled and painted, I found a small magnet on a telescopic rode and used that to locate them

 

Test marking of radial bearing, it is designed for a lazy susan table, simple stuff to obtain, in the spirit of the origional robot, ( they used components from the factory floor)

 

hole cut some where near the correct size

 

next problem, cut the new turntable, unfortunately I didnt have a compass or the correct size pot or pan or paint time, so I used my spiling stick ( old carpenters tool)

 

place bearing on the circle, then draw around to allow for clearance

I am needed for walkies it seems

 

the yoke now cut roughly to shape, final finishing by hand

 

I need to tidy up the edges of the turntable and do not have a lathe, so I made one, ( my father was in the Army so taught me how to get around problems)

 

the neck ready for the bottom plate to be removed ( I need to make a taller section as per the origional photo

 

 

the turntable all trimmed up and mounted with spacers on the bearing, the spacers came from a large box of bits I have salvaged over the years

 

old image from book of neck, as you can see it needs to be taller, around 2 and a half inches

Thats all folks !!

 

 

 

[Ranger]

Great work Russell. Drop me an email when it’s convenient to call in to see you and Franko. 

[Brian..]

The sheer scale of this build amazes me. 

[Franko]

On 5/19/2021 at 6:01 AM, Brian.. said:

The sheer scale of this build amazes me. 

It was not meant to be 9 feet tall !!

I just got carried away, but the local children love it, and thats all I care about

[Ranger]

[Franko]

work is progressing on Frank, my Nephew who is a highly qualified engineer was supposed to offer some assistance with technology, but has been too busy ( buying a house and stuff)

my Brother never appears in spite of promising to

and my artist friend has retired, but does come over now and again and assist me

we are setting him up for halloween, but the motors for the necks rotate and tilt will not be ready, I have had to make it all the old fashioned way and its going to take a few weeks to finish

busy putting the skin on his feet at the moment

picture to follow

 

[Ranger]

Looking forward to seeing him finished!

[Action Robot]

You have CLEARLY found your lost tribe, whether you knew you had one or not. Welcome, brother! 
 

Fantastic work!

[Franko]

contrary to popular rumour I am still alive !!

time keeps vanishing, and various daughters need my skills on their properties

I have been catching up this last week or two

I have reduced the height of the torso by 7 inches, not a straightforward job as I needed to fashion a new base and bond it to the sides, today i fitted some bearers in the bottom as the ply I had was thinner than the old base, also had to trim down the rear access door

later this week I plan to reduce the legs by 6 inches and re shape the boots slightly, this will allow Frank to live in the front hall  , as the ceilings are 8 feet

for Halloween he can sit there and scare the kids, it also means I dont have to stop out in the cold either !!

not sure that I will get all the motors working, but hopefully the audio circuits will go in and a few other bits, the TV screen got junked, as my brother never turned up to do the magic stuff, so I will use an old laptop to power the audio circuits

I also have a classic car to restore, having been messed about by a so called specialist !! so will have even less time

but being able to work inside in the  warm and dry should mean I get more done of an evening

 

 

 

 

[Franko]

a few pics from last year

As it was raining Mike and I built a temporary roof onto the workshop to keep him dry, and to irritate the neighbours who are a PIA

 

[Andyman]

Looking good!

[Brian..]

It looks impressive. It must be fun living next door to you.