R2D2’s Last Walk

In the previous months, right after I took R2D2 out for a walk during Dallas TX 2009 Comic Con, I decided that the R2D2 project should have a big finale before I rendered the unit an ornament at my game room’s corner. R2D2’s plastic structure had started to deteriorate considerably. It had also suffered from major break ups a few times and I feared that if I kept on abusing the project, it would eventually become instant trash, in which case I would loose it all. Plus, since I do not have an automobile to carry him anymore (at least not as easy as it was with the Pick Up truck), setting him as an ornament seemed like the right thing to do.

So on the weekend of June 20, 2009, I started to record a series of segments on the electronics, mechanisms, construction, etc. The idea was to generate a documentary I could later on post on the different forums, detailing how I had build the different aspects of the little astro droid. The documentary never came to be. As I was recording one of the scenes, the R2D2 suffered yet another breakage, landing him into the floor and taking even more damage as his head landed on a nearby cart.

Like I had suspected, the plastic structures were severely affected and the right ankle shatered. It is possible that the amount of time it spend on the garage under the scorching Texan heat, had something to do with it.

Interesting thing is that the documentary’s title was going to be R2D2’s Last Walk. Precissely because it was about giving the robot one last walk before I took the motors and electronics apart. As it turns out, the video ended being called R2D2’s Last Walk because I had succesfully captured the robots true last walk before it plummeted down to scrap.

And now it is time to enjoy the vide R2D2’s Last Walk, honoring the project that kept me busy for the better part of my last 14 years of life.

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