Is that a real robot mom ?

In my typical fashion, I found another excuse to wander from my list of things to do to get ready for the MegaCon SciFi robot invasion. I've been tweaking Robby's electronics and an idea that has been forming in my mind for a few weeks finally gripped me to go for it.

Robby's neon is about eye level. If you peer inside, you can see the wires and the modern electronics that I installed. So I installed clips and a black cloth to cover that up.

Let's face it, we know these robots are not real robots but like a movie, we display them to fuel human imagination and wonder. So why not add a little extra fuel by displaying a wall of retro electronics behind the neon.

Originally I built a platform about 18" long and 4" wide which sits behind the neon and houses the speakers and microcontroller. On the front (neon) side of the platform, I extended it a few inches and completely covered it with 1950's vintage electronics. Vacuum tubes, large resistors, capacitors, potentiometers and all types of old style wire and connectors. Some LED blue lights shine behind the vacuum tubes to make them look like they are actually glowing. I have to say it really looks cool. Yes, very cool.

So when people are looking at Robby, they may peek through the neon tubes and catch a glimpse of a head full of 1950's electronics .... and who knows what direction their imagination will take them.

On the MegaCon SciFi robot invasion front. We are beyond capacity. The only thing I know for sure is we are going to have a massive turnout .... so much so that we will be very crowded. But it's going to be a lot of fun. Also, I never mentioned this before but we have a big celebrity displaying a robot with us. He was in a top American POP band as well in movies and broadway. His robot will be with us during the whole convention but he will only be stopping by for a few hours. And that's all I'm going to say about this to protect his privacy.

Also, all exhibitor passes and guest passes have been mailed out to builders and collectors with an information packet. You should get everything by the end of the week. That's a relief for me since I dread paperwork and details like that. The MegaCon promoters are really excited about us showing up and are rolling out the red carpet for the robots. It should be fun and I can't wait !