K-9 Build - Week 15 (Fully Operational)

Finally with much saving, much trial and error and much blood sweat and tears... K-9 is now completed.

He is fully operational via remote control and now has a voice.

Now I was going to build some complex sound unit however after talking to my buddy Dan (the guy who build my TARDIS sound and light circuit) he suggested I used a headset.  However my voice isnt quite the voice I wanted for K9 but the idea did plant a seed and I found a headset the plugged into a transmitter, now if it can take a headset why not my iPhone.  I've a number of sound bites on my phone so this would work out perfect.

Headset $18 on eBay

700w Amplifier $19 on ebay

I wired up the receiver to an amp and ran a speaker all the way up into K-9's head, originally I had a speak in the main body of K-9 but it didnt sound right

And now the video:

I'm pretty sure this isnt the last of the K-9 build diary, there's always something else to do... like maybe one day having the laser attached and retract but for now MY K-9 is complete

Thank you to all those who followed the build and I hope that anyone who decides they want to attempt a K9 build of their own finds some of the information ive posted over the past 15 weeks useful.

K-9 Build - Week 13

Im now another step closer to having K-9 fully remote controlled.  Essentially he is, except for a voice.  Thats gonna be the next big job.

I got most of the parts I need its just figuring it all out.

But until then heres the work so far...

Week 13

As far as the head motion and the eye scanner, this took a little creative thinking, yes I'm sure this is what most robot builders know to do but as this is my first time I had to figure a way to turn on both the extending antenna (eye) and the wiper motor (head) and so I used two micro switches attached to servos (these servos cost me $3 each on eBay the micro switches were $1 each from BGMicro) all I did was set the arm of the servo to trigger the microswitch turning on either the wiper motor or the extending Antenna.  

As far as the extending antenna is concerned it had three wires Red, Black and Green, when the Red is connected to the positive and the black to the negative the antenna retracts, however with the green is connected to the red it extends. So all i did was use the micro switch to connect the green to the red.  Also as a side bonus. The suction cup also holds the visor on more securely.

Another thing to take into account is making sure the wires are clear of the motors.... no easy task when you're working in such a small space with a number of moving parts.

K-9 Build - Week 12

Today has been the first time I've done anything with K-9 since returning from Phoenix ComiCon, 2 weeks ago.

So what else can I do, well ultimately I want K-9 to have a voice, but in the meantime I wanted to make his head bob up and down as well as get the 'eye' scanner to extend and retract.

Well Ive managed to install BOTH, however as of right now they arnt remote controlled.  I'm going to have to order some servos and micro switches but as far as progress is concerned I feel that i got a lot done.

The head motion uses a wiper motor that I picked up from http://monsterguts.com

 Product Information

•    12 VDC has high and low speeds
•     High Speed @ 12V: 53 r.p.m.
•     Low Speed @ 12V: 38 r.p.m.
•     High Speed @ 5V: 21 r.p.m.
•     Low Speed @ 5V: 15 r.p.m.
•     Working Torque - 3.98 foot pounds (5.4 N m)
•     Static Torque - 13.27 foot pounds (18 N m)
•     Full Load: 2000mA @ 12VDC, 1080mA @ 5VDC
•     No Load: 1020mA @ 12VDC, 780mA @ 5VDC
•     Click on the "More Images" link beneath the picture above to view where to connect to the  terminals for high and low speeds.
•     The workhorse of electric props. Used in many animatronics.

It actually only cost me $17 and does the job perfectly

The Eye Scanner was an electronic antenna I bought off eBay from China, again pretty cheap.  Using some tape to stop it fully retracting I managed to get it working, again not Remote Controlled yet but it is working.

Week 12
Head Motion

Eye Scanner

The wires and such need to be tidied up a bit but that can wait til I get the servos and switches....

Phoenix ComiCon 2012 - K-9's First Public Appearance

So Ive not updated in a few days because I was a guest at Phoenix ComiCon 2012, I was actually there because of Ghost Hunters International but I decided that this would be an ideal place to give K-9 his maiden voyage and being that Phoenix isnt to far away I brought him along...

Now I know this is a Doctor Who blog and this particular post is really about K-9, BUT I wanted to say just how fantastic Phoenix ComiCon was, how truly amazing the staff there are and how professional everyone was.  Both Scott and I felt very humbled by the way we were treated by both the organisers and the fans. With that said...

K-9 completely stole my thunder.... I had hundreds of people asking if they could take their photo with him not even knowing who I was....

Still it was GREAT, and K-9 worked brilliantly.  I guess the speed issue wasn't really that much of an issue at all, it was just a case of getting used to controlling him.

*All images have been sourced from various locations about the internet including Flickr and Facebook. Not all belong to me and some have ownership watermarks.  No copyright infringement intended