R2 Learning by Experiment

So as part of our R2 building project there are some parts that I want to cast of our resin therefore we are looking for a good material to use. Here is a picture of our Styrofoam experiments.

 

The boys so proud of helping us try different spray coatings to help “seal” the foam.

(all these failed on the next test)

Building R2 1 step at a time

Some of you may have heard that my sons has recently gotten very involved and interested in star wars. So I decided that we will build an R2 unit. I have joined the Astromech group to help me get the plans and we have started. Our goal (not sure how realistic it is) is to have one unit done by Halloween. However the plan is to build 4 units. I can hear it now 4? are you crazy? why 4? Well here is the thought process. The first unit will be made out of wood to test size, internal areas and motor strength. This unit will be given to a local Children's Hospital or similar institute when completed. The 2nd unit will be made out of PVC to get the weight to power ratio correct. This unit will be given to my boys to play with. The 3rd and 4th units will be made from aluminum the 3rd will contain my generation one components, the 4th will be a 2-3-2 R2 and contain generation 2 logic circuits all powered by arduino micros.
Here are some starter pictures:

This is of my office, if you look close you can see all the electronics building up for R2 as I teach myself electrical engineering.

These are our tools and supplies for the 1st R2 unit. I have even bought my boys their first toolbox with real tools (nothing sharp and nothing heavy to start)

Here is our work bench

And the first R2 disk cut out using the Dremel trio what a great tool.