SECOND SKIN
[11/27/2004]
Slap Happy got a make-over today. It may even get a new name. In fact, it most assuredly will.
My wife and I were trying to figure out how to dress up the bot to make it look cool. We were
thinking everything from technical-looking graphics to an Egyptian motif, but after some experiments
and realization (about how big of a project that could become), I settled on something
simple but cool.
Have you ever seen a robot made out of marble? I must have the heaviest robot in my weight class!
By the way, you can click on these images to see larger versions for a closer look.
As you can see, I haven't completed the job. The facial skin has not been applied (in fact, the
face panel is not even in the picture).Obviously.
Since I will be replacing the front panel with Titanium, I figured I would wait until I actually had it in place before adding the skin. But you can see the new top piece that will be applied in addition to the Titanium (I don't know how hard/possible it is to bend Titanium, so I made a separate aluminum piece to go over the top so I only have to cut a flat piece of Titanium).
So, by now I bet you are wondering what this skin is made of - and how I was able to get it on
so quickly. Well, it's very simple, really. It is "Con-Tact" paper (or shelf paper). You can
get it at Walgreens, Long's, Home Depot, ACE Hardware...lots of places. You just peel it and
stick it on. My wife brought home
three different rolls. I saw the marble one and knew that was it. For the first iteration,
anyway. We might get more fancy in the future, but a complete marble finish was about the easiest
thing I could do with the time I have left. I am hoping it will both confuse and distract my
enemies. I mean, really, when was the last time you saw a robot made of marble? The only thing
I don't like are the bolts that are visible. It kind of distracts from the overall effect.
Maybe I'll at least paint the heads white to blend in.
The cool part about this paper is that, after a battle, the torn or damaged areas can be easily removed and replaced with a fresh piece. So, the robot will look unscathed at the beginning of every battle!
As for alternative names for the robot, here is a list of what has crossed our minds:
- Martha Stewart (in keeping with the shelf paper idea)
- Insight Traiter (a twist on Inside Trader, also a la Martha Stewart)
- Rolling Stone
- Rock and Roll
- No Moss (too dry and esoteric - do you even get it?)
- Marble Marvel (limits me to a marble finish)
- Stone Hinge (kind of a play on "Stonehenge")
- Wedge of Deception
- Under Foot
- Fender Bender
- Under-runner
- Bottom Feeder
- Cuckoo's Nest (as in, "fly over this!")
- Terrible Itch
- Rotting Garbage
- Deep Depression
By the way, I also finally completed the electrical system. I installed a switch for the receiver and drilled a hole to access it without having to remove a panel (so now I don't have to remove a panel except to charge the batteries). I also assembled and wired up an extra battery pack to boost the power from 14.4V to 19.2V, so now I have the option of running the bot at either voltage. I also made an extender pack for the NiCds as well, but I need to add connectors to it (and to the main NiCd pack) so I can plug them in. Therefore, I currently do not have a backup pack that I can use. Yet.
Also, one of the face plate bolts stripped its threads. It is only screwed into the thin aluminum frame, so there is not much holding this together, really. I need to add some kind of nutserts or pims or whatever they are called to give the bolts something to bite into. That has been on my mind since day one, but I have not done anything about it. It looks like I need to. Perhaps I will address that at my friend Ed's place on Wednesday. I would hate to lose one of my armor plates during battle!