Yup, that's right. A pothole. Just a small one, but devastating all the same. I was pushing Artoo across the street, and the casters in the center foot hit the pothole and stuck. Since I was pushing, Artoo stood up on the center foot, and the left side of the support for the ankle collapsed. The footshell shattered into pieces, and there's a big chunk of the oak inner foot missing.
Artoo ALMOST did a nosedive, and it was all I could do to keep him from sliding on his face down the street. People were running from all directions to help, but I managed to keep him upright.
Here's some shots of the damage to the supports:
One day this week I'll begin "tearing" Artoo back down to the frame. Naturally I'm not looking forward to that, as I'm sure you can imagine.
I'll have to get lots of measurements to build a new strong and sturdy ankle and supports out of hardwood.
I also found that Artoo does NOT like running on hotel carpet at 12v. After I check some specs on the speed controller and the dome motor, I'm going to do a rewire on the drive system to 24v.
Also, I'm going to have to pull the laptop speakers out of the frame, and get a car stereo speaker and an amplifier. Artoo was audible in the room and in the elevators, but out in the general areas of the con, he might as well have been whispering.
And of course, I'll be watching for the JAG runs of new metal feet, and possibly an alu center ankle. So, just when I thought I was done, now I've got all sorts of things to do.
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