News! Nuts and Volts magazing just published a great article in the personal robotics section about me and J-65!
Read the entire Nuts and Volts article written by Robot Group member Vern Graner. The J-65 section has been screen grabbed and included below for direct viewing.
J-65 is a big Hit! The J-65 Robot made numerous appearances now to Dorkbot and both Austin Maker Faire's 07-08 (Blue Ribbon Award recipient), Alamo Draft house for 3 events (2 Wall-E premiers and Star Quest Cult Film showing) The Robot Group (Da Vinci Award recipient 07), Austin Books, and many Austin Schools for Education on Art and Science!
Images of J-65 at public events including the First Night Austin launch party, Maker Faire 08 and the Alamo theater "Wall-E" premier!
J-65 Robot Construction Section!
J-65 is not just Mary Lou's small robotic sidekick, he also plays a very important role in their adventures across outer space! Once a janitorial starship droid, J-65 was modified to assist in most of the ship operations on board Jack's modified deep space transport. This page is documenting the construction of J-65's evolution from scrap parts and motors to becoming a fully animatronic character in the short film. Brand new Maker Faire Austin video on You Tube posted 12-22-07!
First, I want to preface this description by quickly explaining my design process. I am a genius when it comes to putting shapes together. I can see new uses for existing shapes and create all kinds of things from them as demonstrated here. I have done this as a 3D artist for years, I started making scratch built models when I was 7 years old. I see this as a gift that lets me do more with less. Below is a youtube Slide Show demonstrating my construction process. Enjoy the video!
Second, I want to explain quickly the inspiration for the J-65 Robot. Some people have commented on the similarity of J-65 to the "Johnny 5" from "Short Circuit". This is no coincidence, I intentionally designed J-65 look as much as possible (given the parts I had to work with obviously) to the "Johnny 5" Robot. This is absolutely my favorite Anthropomorphic robot design of all time. J-65 is like the illegitimate offspring generations down line from "Johnny 5" during his theatrical escapades. Now one knows for sure if he ever procreated with an other robot, but if he did, J-65 would have been their Offspring!
J-65 toy component descriptions.
1. The Head. J-65's head comes from a old mid 70's toy called "UFO ATTACK!" I actually had this toy when I was young, I played with it and dismantled it. I found two of them years ago at a collectors show and thought I could use them for something. I have one mint in the box, it still works (for now...)
2. The Shoulders. This section came about later after I had built the motorized torso section. I needed a tubular section that was hollow to put in the arm motor and gear box. Darth Maul's light saber was destined to be cannibalized into my robot. It is kind of a religious ceremony for me to add some Star Wars into my art!
3. The Arms. Pretty much a no-brainer when you are shopping at the dollar store and come across these in a bin for $2 a piece. I found them online later for over $6 (along with this lovely photo!). A total of five were used in the arms and neck.
4. Lower Body and Torso. I saw this Arctic Shock water gun and it had interesting shapes, I bought one, brought it home and started cutting it into these main sections. I love it when a plan comes together! The detail on these are awesome.
5. Main Drive System (base) and Mid Waist. The RAD Robot! Need I say more? I bought two of these on EBAY, one worked the other didn't. I immediately knew this was going to be the base for my J-65 after I saw first hand how robust and agile this toy was. The Waist came along later after I started cutting more plastic. I try to use as much as I can from a toy, the less I have to store or throw away later, the better. Other peoples junk becomes my art, who would have ever thought?
6. Exterior Body Detail (armored shield generator). I just want to say this and get it over with. I love Space 1999! OK, call me a nerd, I don't care! I had this space Eagle toy missing a lot of parts and I saw the truss assembly and thought why don't I use that for body detail. It worked! I used other parts of this toy in my Engine room set.
These images below reflect the second phase of the J-65 robot construction. More detail and additional LED lights have been added. Photo documentation was done with the help of friend and actor Reed Charles. The last phase will be finishing the RC control features and J65's weathered Paint job.
LED's with fiber optics add life to J-65! With color changing and sequncing effects, these Light Emitting Diodes add illumination and give the robot the illusion that it is actually processing and thinking.
Robot construction started with a "RAD 2.0" radio controled toy. I removed the upper section and kept the base (Main drive system with motorized tank-like treads) and the RC controler. I have re-wired the lighting and added gear boxes to animate the head section, torso and arms. I also had to design and incorporate special lighting into the robot so it will appear to be "Thinking and Responding" to the action on set. All kinds of spare model & toy parts will be reconfigured and integrated into the final design.
After doing much work on the design of J-65 and construction of various other props, I felt it prudent to build a 3D version for placement in the various sets for 3D story boards. All of the sets where the characters will interact are being built in 3D studio Max, this will make the editing and compositing easier after the miniatures and computer generated effects have been created and filmed.
Click on the image below to see a quicktime video of the exciting J-65 robotic animation in it's early stages of construction! Please turn the volume down on your computer since it was recorded with my stereo on loud for background effect!
All original designs and graphics are the ownership of J.P.F. and cannot be used or duplicated without permission. Copyright 2009 CozmicFunk
