Back in 1979, I read "Build Your Own Working Robot"
by David
L. Heiserman (TAB Books), a worthwhile book that gave me some of the basic ideas needed
to begin my project. Originally my plan was to build an R2D2. The project soon
evolved into Doctor Who's robot dog K-9. I was fortunate to come across another
book "Special Effects: Starlog Photo Guidebook, Vol 3
" (Starlog Press) with some
BBC blueprints with most of
K-9's measurements and angles. The dimensions on the head are are kind of
screwed up. Overall it turned out better than I expected.
The body of K-9 was built
from 1/2" plywood, sheet metal with some Bondo to fill in the cracks. The
ears are formed wire (I think it was a brass welding rod) with fiberglass screen
glued in place. The eyes light up behind red Plexiglas. A power car antenna
with the orange tip of a toy dart extends as the probe. The tail is a small
radio antenna wagged by two solenoids. A hinged metal panel on the side allows
access to the inner components.
The body lifts off of the
frame revealing a mess of wires and components. Four 6 volt 8 AH gel cell
batteries provide power. There are two rear wheels and one front wheel. The
front wheel has a geared motor built on to it. An old GM wiper motor with a
sprocket and chain from a 10-speed bike steers the front wheel. The wiper motor
is way too heavy and probably draws 10 amps. All motors and
solenoids are controlled by a Commodore VIC20 through relays. The VIC20 has been
totally torn apart and reworked. I even removed the character ROMs to allow for
more program space. New EPROMs provide drive and steering logic as
well as sound effects and speech synthesis. Movements can be preprogrammed
through a calculator keypad or controlled by an Atari joystick. I never got
around to adding RF remote control or ultrasonic collision avoidance.
Technology and parts availability and
changed since the 1980s. Today, Radio Shack hardly carries any electronic
components. Digi-key and Jameco Electronics are still around. DIY robot kits, surplus computers
and laptops are very easy to find. If I was building a robot today:
I would use an old laptop with a parallel port to control the motors.
Light weight rechargeable batteries and wifi for remote control are already built in. Cordless screwdrivers or
drills are cheap and provide the torque required to move a robot.
K-9 has shown up at several
sci-fi shows and conventions in the 1980's. Since then, parts of him have been
stored in my dad's basement and my brother's garage. While K-9 was in my garage,
my wife hit him while parking her car and broke his neck. Currently he lives in a
corner of my garden shed...waiting to be reactivated someday.
Back in 1979, I read "Build Your Own Working Robot
"
by David
L. Heiserman (TAB Books), a worthwhile book that gave me some of the basic ideas needed
to begin my project. Originally my plan was to build an R2D2. The project soon
evolved into Doctor Who's robot dog K-9. I was fortunate to come across another
book "Special Effects: Starlog Photo Guidebook, Vol 3
" (Starlog Press) with some
BBC blueprints with most of
K-9's measurements and angles. The dimensions on the head are are kind of
screwed up. Overall it turned out better than I expected.
Download ZIPPED BMP images of these
