It has been a little while since my last entry. Nothing serious, just life getting in the way. Like earning the money to get the bits to build my droid...
I've been thinking... Perhaps I should be willing to make astromechs for people.
The question is: would people be willing to pay a couple of thousand for labour? Note that I wouldn't be selling droids, you would be paying for the cost of parts, reimbursing me for said, and paying for me to spend my time putting it together. Plus shipping and handling costs. Given that costs for astromech parts can easily run into the thousands of dollars, having someone do the work might be acceptable for those who are prepared to pay a cost of convenience, and don't have the time.
I've just finished paying for my first frame (from James of Commando 8) - really, I prefer the idea of a machined aluminium internal body over wood, and I couldn't buy the tools to do it myself for less, nor get a local machine shop to make it.
Since my last post, I've also been doing a bit with microcontrollers (AVR FTW - not that I'm biased, or anything). Mostly playing with some that I've had for a while, and have only really started learning to use. I have learned (in my time) a bit of programming, and some electronics, so this is a convergence of the two. Combine this with an interest in robotics, and being a Star Wars fan... Like I said, I'm using the excuse that this is an interesting engineering project (gotta give that mind of mine some exercise), and it's a convenient shape to use...
I will make some more posts soon, mostly on the microcontroller side of things (at least until the frame is delivered)... and one interesting observation I made recently (without the use of mind-influencing substances as much as you might think otherwise when I write about it).
Fortunately, no one has called my bluff on making droids. I have too much to do, let alone doing someone else's work for them. Although, when it comes to the internal electronics, as far as I can tell it's open season - if I come up with interesting or useful stuff... The internal electronics and computing could be transferred to any robot, conceivably.... To be fair, though, I'd probably just open source any of the internal systems. Just don't ask me for anything yet - I have very little done.
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