The Great Texas B9 Build Off

Posted 4 Jun 2008 at 21:43 UTC by steve

Jerry Chevalier, a member of the B9 Builders Club, recently hosted a robot building event at his home in Rowlett, Texas. In addition to B9 builders from all over the United States, he also invited R2 builders and members of the nearby Dallas Personal Robotics Group. There were lots of B9 and R2-D2 robots, some working and some under construction. Other Star Wars astromechs such as the R5 also made an appearance. There were also smaller robots, movie props, and even a working replica of the Jupiter 2 flight console. Besides building robots, all the builders shared a BBQ dinner Saturday evening. I was lucky enough to be there and shot a few photos of the robot-building fun.

Loud Walking, posted 5 Jun 2008 at 15:22 UTC by The Swirling Brain » (Master)

You could also build bots from Silent Running.

Silent Running Drones, posted 5 Jun 2008 at 16:23 UTC by steve » (Master)

Those are cool. I saw a prop-style replica of one of the drones at RoboNexus a few years ago but I've never seen anyone build an actual robotic replica like the R2 and B9 guys are doing these days. I bet it would be tough to get it to walk given the weird leg arrangement.

I Got The Bug, posted 7 Jun 2008 at 14:57 UTC by jeffkoenig » (Master)

I re-learned of the R2 builders group last October (from fellow DPRG member Doug Emes), and was amazed at the quality and attention to detail of the parts. I became a member, and have now accumulated most of the parts to build my own all-metal R2-D2.

I, too, was at Jerry's B9 build party, and had a fantastic time.

The wonderful thing about groups like these is the breadth of talent of the membership, and their willingness to share knowledge.