Titan Class Astrobots: These are the Big Ones!

Constructing MOBOT was full of interesting challenges. It was the first piece of art that was heavy enough to harm me if it fell. I used ropes slung over the scaffolding to hold the body over the legs as I tack-welded them in place. I recall MOBOT having another head, but it wasn’t right and I broke it apart and made a new one. Back then I was using the weld machines at work, which means it had to be welded at night, since they weren’t available during the day. The next morning welders came to work to find MOBOT lurking at my weld bench, with me home fast asleep.

Originally MOBOT was extremely cumbersome to move-able—only his arms and head could be removed. I lived on the second floor apartment, and getting him up and down the narrow stair was a feat of strength and strategy. Fortunately I had a couple of housemates that had a surprising amount of strength and patience. I remember new SCUL pilots doing double-takes when they would walk by the room MOBOT lived in when they came the the fort for the first time.

Years later, MOBOT came along with me to Burning Man. I think he had as much fun as I did, guarding our camp Outpost Autosub. His head broke at one point and had to be repaired with the MIG welder we brought along to chop out playa bikes. He’s still got the scar. As he was being loaded on the truck for the trip home his legs broke off: my early welds weren’t as strong as they are now: I wanted to be able to make changes, so I’d keep them light.

After Burning Man MOBOT sat under the porch in pieces (decompression is a real bear sometimes). I didn’t want to put his legs back on permanently, and for me, welding is a lot easier than machining, so I procrastinated for a year or so. I would feel guilty whenever I saw him half covered in snow, waiting for me to save him again. Finally the day came: I used some welding tank caps as hips and came up with a screw-in system for holding his legs on. MOBOT was back!

He went on to Arisia as well as Art Beat. People love getting their picture taken with MOBOT. Ovee the next couple of years the hips wore out, and it was time to rethink the problem.

I had just started making the poseable smaller robots and me and my friends were thinking how fantastic it would be if MOBOT had a scaled up version. After many sketches I came up with the idea of using two BMX stems to make a faux ball-and-socket joint. Twenty BMX stems and several labor hours later MOBOT evolved.

Unfortunately the joints aren’t quite strong enough yet. They need some reinforcement. We’ve been talking about adding some sounds and lights as well. I suppose he’ll be evolving for as long as I have him.