07.16.18

Well, here we are again. It's always such a pleasure... Seriously though, I am super excited to post this update:

Wheatley is functionally finished!

It has taken a lot of effort to get him to this point, but it's totally worth it. Let me catch you up on what has happened since the last update:

The spare Handle parts I had to use were primed and painted. I had to devise another way of connecting the two sides of each Handle, so I found some small neodymium magnets and glued them in. I also put some bits of flexible plastic sheet around the ends of the Handles to give the pieces a channel to sit in and to help them stay aligned. It works very nicely.

The JB Weld failed fantastically. Turns out it has great compression strength but breaks easily with twisting motion. I went back to the drawing board and decided to drill out the Handle Mounts from the back and put screws through the opening. This worked, for the most part. I did end up rebuilding a few spots due to my carelessness in drilling. Aside from that, the Handles now function fully and I don't have to worry about them falling off!

I also extended the wiring on from the switches on the Sides, to make it easier to put the Sides onto his body. After I finished this, I noticed that one of the Handle connections had a large gap between the Side and the Handle, so I 3D printed a small spacer and glued it in place. After that, I ran out of things to do!

In the coming days my artist friend and I will be working on getting his paint job finished. We'll also be finishing the Aperture Science Personalized Personality Core Carrier we started a few weeks back, that way we can tote Wheatley around in style!

Stay tuned for the final update and the big reveal video!

05.09.18

It's time for another update! I was able to work on a few things this week. Here's a summary of everything I did:

I worked on the handles and got them to work for the most part. The first picture shows what Wheatley looks like with his Sides and Handles in place. The servos in the Handles work, but they are a bit noisy. It's a small price to pay to have his Handles move. However, if I ever do another core like this I am NOT making it's Handles move; it's way too much work and stress. The points where the Handles connect to the Sides are the weakest part of the whole project, and the parts I worry about most.

I also got the rest of the parts sanded, primed, and painted their basecoat! Everything came out quite nicely, as the rest of the pictures show. Of course, they'll look even better after my artist neighbor is finished with them. Again, I am extremely grateful that she is as excited to paint Wheatley as I am to make him! I don't know what I'd do without her.

I still have some work to do on the wiring inside of Wheatley. Mostly, I have to figure out how to fit everything in the space I have to work with and not impede his movement.

I had been planning on using Velcro to secure his sides onto his body, but I realized this past week that it's not going to work like I thought. The plan now is to use earth magnets on the inside lip of the body, and either strips of sheet metal or more magnets on the inside of the Sides. I'm confident it'll work, but I know it's going to be somewhat of a pain to implement.

I'm very excited to be making all of this progress on Wheatley! At this rate, he'll be done by the end of the month!

03.08.18

Well, Spring Break is almost over. I've made some progress, but not as much as I had hoped. There were some unforeseen complications that occurred that have (once again) put me behind schedule. Wheatley will be finished soon, just not as soon as I had hoped.

Let's start with the positive. Today my artistically talented neighbor Hydee painted the faceplate and eyelids. She helped me paint my first Wheatley and graciously volunteered to paint this one too. All I can say is "WOW!" I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! It's amazing what a skilled artist and a couple coats of paint can do! 

There’s also a lot more to read under the cut, so check it out if you feel up to it.

More Details Here

Just a small note today. I am Still Alive and about to get back to work on Wheatley! Spring Semester is finally over, which means my free-time gets an enormous boost. Wheatley will soon be finished! As of today, here's everything left I have to do:

Apply the Aperture logo decal

Touch-up the paint around the eye

Install the faceplate and inner electronics

Secure the servos and solder all of the electrical connections

Install the last socket side with Superglue and Apoxie Sculpt

Sand the rest of the unsanded parts

Test fit the new handle servos and adjust the code to accommodate

Prime and paint the unpainted parts

Add black fabric and Velcro to the sides

DONE!!!

As you can see' it really isn't a lot. Most of the time spent will be waiting for things to dry/cure. I'm excited to get to work and see how it all comes together! Wish me luck!

12.29.17

One step closer...

My Spring Break officially starts two days from now, and I’m planning on working on my Animatronic Wheatley as much as possible. Spring Break ends on the 9th. I plan on having him finished by then, if not a day or so earlier. Here’s everything I have left to do:

Rebuild the parts of the Sides that the Handles connect to (they cracked while I was modifying them).

Fit servos inside the Handles and adjust the code to make them move properly.

Paint the Faceplate and Eyelids.

Print the decal for Wheatley’s Eye and install it in the Faceplate.

Permanently secure all servos and solder all electrical connections together.

Install the Faceplate and all of the innards inside Wheatley’s Body.

Paint all of the remaining parts, add velcro for Side attachments and black fabric to mask inside electronics.

The painting and finishing a part on the Inner Socket will take a minimum of 3 days, but there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to finish him in 9 days. He will soon be COMPLETE! I can’t wait to get started!

More Details Here

01.12.18

Another day, another set of problems to solve.

The first problem I ran into came from the Handles. I wired up the Handles and attached them to the Sides to adjust the code. However, I quickly discovered that in spite of their small, convenient size, the Common Sense Ultra Micro Servos providing the Handle's motion are just not strong enough. They move somewhat well, but they jitter and whine very loudly. So, I redesigned the Handles and went back to using the RadioShack Micro Servos. I had them printed through a friend on 3DHubs, and they came out nicely.

They're done in Silver because he was running low on Black and White. It's ok though because it makes it so I don't have to prime them! The part that houses the servo is thicker because the servos are thicker, but that's a small price to pay for movement!

The second problem came from the electrical system. I had redesigned the XLR connection on the back of Wheatley to allow him to be powered from a wall adapter. I ordered the adapter from Amazon and everything seemed to be ok. However, once it arrived I discovered that it didn't supply the proper voltage to run everything. It was rated at 9.6V (the same as the rechargeable batteries) but only produced 9.3V when plugged in. So, to remedy this problem, I cut it out of the design entirely. Wheatley is now 100% battery powered, and I'll just have to deal with it.

Now that college has started again I have less free time to work on Wheatley, But I'm confident He'll be finished by the end of the month. The most time consuming steps left are sanding the handles, priming and painting everything, and securing all of the electronics in such a way that they don't interfere with each other or Wheatley's movement.

01.05.18

It’s a New Year and new progress has been made on Wheatley! I’m so excited that Wheatley is moving and talking now! It’s taken a lot of work to get to this point. I’m really getting pumped now, because these changes mean that we’re right on track to finish Animatronic Wheatley v2.0 by the end of the month! I can’t wait! (Full list of updates under the cut.)

More Details Here