I discovered the B9 Builders Club in October of 1999. Out of curiosity I checked the membership to see if there were any builders located in South Dakota. To my surprise B9 builder Greg Logue was constructing his Robot only a few miles away. I sent him an email and before I knew what had hit me I had decided to build one myself. My children were already well aquatinted with the Robot from watching him on TV and are very excited about this project.
After recovering from the initial "sticker shock" of the cost of parts, I decided to build my own fiberglass torso. From October to January I learned about fiberglass and slowly my initial torso model took shape. I then made a mold using this model to allow me to make a one piece torso. In January I began making torsos for other folks and now I'm a part's supplier for the club.
In no time at all it was April, I had made several torsos and decided to get a vendor's table at the B9 Club meet in Akron, OH. Greg and I had a great time in Ohio, we met many club members as well as Bob May. I began the long process of buying parts from other suppliers.
One of the very first and most useful items I purchased was Dave Painters Blueprints!
In Akron I picked
up the following parts:
Treadsections
- Dana
Covert
Brain Kit &
cam, Resin Claws, Ears - Scott
Sanderson
Sensors, Crown
- Bill
Kendzierski
Rubber Arms,
Aluminum wheels, Waist Plate, Side Panels - Norman
Sockwell
After Akron I got back to work. I built a mold for making fiberglass wrists based on Scott Sanderson's resin wrists. These are strong and lightweight and should be easier to animate.
Since spring I've
acquired the following parts:
Collar - Greg
Logue
Bubble - Planet
Plastics
Eye Lenses -
Mark
Thompson
Chest Buttons,
Radar Section Kit, Brain Cup - Norman
Sockwell
Donut, Rubber
Legs, Fiberglass Knees, Rubber Treads, Neon, Neon Backplate, Bubble Lifter
- Dewey
Howard
Chest Bezel,
Rotating Wrist Centers, Claw Brackets - Scott
Sanderson
Torso Hooks -
Al
Larbig
Neon Transformer,
Audio Sync Unit - Tech
2000
Torso Knob, Vents
- Craig
Reinbrecht
Vent Screen -
McMaster-Carr
Stereo Amplifier,
Speakers - JCWhitney
Programming Bay
Tape - Fred Barton
Power Pack, Torso
Microphone - Vince
Roberts
Since my plan
is to automate the Robot, I've also purchased the following electronic
& mechanical components:
IBM Thinkpad
Laptop - Ebay
OOPic Microcontrollers
- SavageInnovations
Motor Control
Boards - Magnevation
Crown Motor -
Hankcrafts
Motors, Inc.
24vDC Gear Motors
- Diverse
Electronics, Inc.
Misc. Electronics
- Digikey
Misc. Small Parts
- Small Parts, Inc.
Design Tools I'm
using:
Mechanical Drafting
- DeltaCad
Schematics and
PCB design - Eagle
Wave File editor
- Cool Edit
Well I've now got a big pile of parts, time to get to work!
