The next droid, this time R2-D2

Well its been a while.  But i have been working on droids. :D

James Short and i have started on our next droid.  We have done the cosmetic droid building before, and we have added gadgets etc.  So this time we decided to go back to basics and look at the whole concept of droid building from the ground up.

We want a droid suitable for any event.  Be it rough tarmac, brick or slab courtyards, grass, sand, gravel even snow.  So the first decision was to make it off road capable.  To achieve this the droid is going to be light, we are aiming for around 30kg, the centre of gravity will be low with light body and head and heavy feet.  This droid should be a first in the group using these ideas and we hope very stable, no matter the surface or terrain.  We have already finished the track based feet drives and 3 forms of suspension so far.

Eventually this droid will have up to 3 different swap out feet drive systems.  With several options for the centre foot too.

The other thing was that we wanted the ability to display or transport this droid in 2 leg mode.  So it has a quick release centre leg and the outer legs can be re-attached in the 2 leg position.

The feet are aluminium, NPCs will be the driving motors and so the feet will be heavy.  The body, dome and legs will be composites and so light and durable.  We have made a concession to use everything that looks aluminium as aluminium (except the dome), so the weight will not be as light as possible, but the look of the droid is important to us and we want it to be as good a droid as it can possibly be, while still breaking new ground and doing things differently.

The paint scheme will be R2-D2 this time, and we will be lightly weathering him, more to highlight him than to make him look like he just rolled out of the swamp.  I am excited to be finally painting a droid.

We have 80% of the bits needed and those parts we have ready are untested but look superb, i cant wait to share pics of real progress.

Working on this droid together means the blogging may be done elsewhere so we can both contribute,  i will add a link here to the new blog as soon as we have all the parts needed and can start the build proper.

In the mean time here is an appetizer to keep you going: