Since I’m suffering from inflamed thumb-muscles (no, not from spending too much time in front of my PS3, but rather from over-exhausting my hands at the gym), building (and pretty much anything else that requires .. well .. thumbs) has been quite slow.
I have, however been out and got myself a proper motorcycle battery for my droid. This heavy-duty baby weighs 6.2 kg (13.7 lbs), packs 12 Volts and has a massive 20 Ah, something that should keep my droid rolling for some time, I hope.
It fits like a glove inside the droid too!
I placed the battery in the front of the robot, since otherwise, it will be a bit back-heavy due to the aluminum dome and all. This may need repositioning, but I think I need to take it out for a few test drives first. I don’t want my droid to go face-planting on me!
I build (and glued in) a holder for the battery as well. With an added buckle on top, this battery will not go anywhere! Note the dramatic close-up…
I still need to add a fuse box into the robot, and especially now, with so much power in it, I don’t dare switching it on until I have it properly fused!
As if adding a battery wasn’t enough, I also started on building the battery boxes. Contrary to the name, these will not contain any batteries, even though they could, technically. These boxes was used in the original 2-legged version of R2-D2 for Kenny Baker to have his feet in. That and the foot shells.
Since my droid will be void of short people inside, it will however be a great place for my motors to extend into, and the cabling that goes up into the legs to have a place to hook up and be alone.
The battery boxes, consists basically of a box, with some added half-pipes on the ends.
First we build the box…
The cut-out is for easy access in the future. The holes in the back will be lined up with the cable channel and main leg mounting bolt.
Add some sides and half-circles to build up the strength… cut out some materials for the motor…
A little bit of sanding, skinning and a few more details, and this baby is ready to be installed. The holes are so the hoses leading in to the battery boxes will have a little extra room behind the knurled hose fittings, which will be placed in the extensions in the ends of the battery box.
This one has been measured and cut-out to match my foot shell already, and it really fits like a glove, eh?
This leaves the droid in the state that I really NEED to start working on the second foot shell, since I cannot complete the second battery box until this is done.
Once both foot shells and battery boxes are complete, it is just a matter of detailing on the body. And painting. And sanding the dome. And paint the dome panels. And drill holes in the dome. And find a way to mount the resin parts inside the body .. and .. and .. and .
Anyways, seems like the basic shape of the droid is nearing completion! 😀
