 Well, to start with, my name is Daniel Livingston. I'm an
Electrical Engineer and I live in Chili, NY (a suburb of Rochester).I grew up interested in electronics and was in the habit of taking
things apart. My parents will tell you that I was always breaking stuff, but
that's not true. It's just that when I put something back together, it
didn't always work the same (or at all).
I grew up watching Science Fiction TV shows like Lost in Space, Star Trek and The Twilight Zone. I was also into model
building, with one of the first kits I built being the Aurora - Lost in Space
Robot model. A rather large comic book reading habit also fueled my
imagination.
Throughout high school and college, I tinkered with electronic projects.
I built many small electronic kits, as well as several of the projects that
were featured in Popular Electronics magazine at the time. A pack-rat at heart, I
have always scavenged parts from old (and new) electronic equipment, so I have accumulated
quite a collection of junk bin parts. It's always nice to have the "right" part
for a project on hand.
So, fast forward 20 years and here I am building my very own B9 robot. I
put my model building and electronic skills to work along with a little
computer programming, plastic molding and wood working knowledge.
I am amazed at the information available on the internet and have surprised
myself by what I have been able to do at home in my own shop. All as a
result of taking on this project. I've worked with Acrylic, ABS and PVC
plastic materials, which I have learned to cut/route/drill and tap.
I've made rubber molds and have molded plastic parts using some of the same
methods used by real part manufacturers. I never knew plastic was so
easy and fun to work with. How cool is mixing two liquid resins (part A
& part B) and ending up with a solid plastic. We're not talking "Jell-O"
here, but real solid plastic! I actually bought (thanks to ebay) a
vacuum pump to use when molding. Last time I saw a vacuum pump was in
high school science class when we were learning about the properties of gasses
and we had to evacuate the air out of a jar. Now I have my very own
vacuum pump and chamber.
My science teacher Mr. Thames would be so proud of me. I've been busy preparing my B9 Robot to
attend the Wonderfest show in Louisville, KY. There are a lot of small
details I have to figure out. This will be the first time I've attended
a show to display it in front of Sci-fi fans. They will be more critical
of my replica than the trick-or-treaters were last fall. I need to
gather spare parts and other miscellaneous items for the trip. I have to
figure out how to pack it and what to pack it in. I have my son going
along to be my "robot wrangler". The original Lost in Space
Robot had three "robot wranglers" assigned to him during the filming of the TV
show. I also made a display stand for my Dr. Smith head and I plan on
bringing my Twilight Zone Mystic Seer Model.
more to come....?
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A's, B9's & C's -
I keep suggesting to my kids that they do a school project that
includes my robot. I'm sure that a Social Studies project could involve
a B9 robot. A sure "A", I keep telling them.
Lost
In Space Word Search, Find all the Lost In Space
related words. Can you find the mystery word? You will need
Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the word search.
 - I finished the wrist inserts which contain the spring loaded
mechanism for the claws. More details
here
Build your own
Twilight Zone
"Mystic Seer" Machine
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