Geoff Peterson - Anyone?

KrangPrime

Master Member
For those who don't know, Geoff Peterson is the Robot Skeleton Sidekick on the Late Late Show...

Has anyone ever attempted to build one? Kind of a random prop, but a fun one to have around :)..especially if you have his 7 or so phrases included :)..
 
Or even better, invite Josh Thompson over to your house to be "Geoff 2.0". :)

If you want to build one you should sweet talk Adam into getting Grant Imahara to give you some specs!


Heh, I wish I could attempt one, but the even simple robotics might be a bit out of my current skill level :). Everything else would be simple enough. THat's why I'm putting the challenge out there if anyone has some spare time ;o). Would love to see a completed one!
 
I was curious about Geoff's construction when I had the opportunity the other day to pick up a couple of model skulls at a salvage outlet for $2 each thinking about using them in the future for Halloween decorations. It occurred to me, hey I could build a "Geoff Peterson", if only a 'talking' head for the old computer cubicle.

Since this was the one thread that even mentions building a "Geoff" I thought I would at least put down a couple of things I discovered. What I bought were Linberg models which on reflection don't quite look much like Geoff which interested me in finding out what skull/skeleton Grant Imahara probably used to construct Geoff.

I did find this skull which I think is referred to as a "Bucky" (probably because the skull's teeth look like they came from a buck-toothed person) I'm attaching a photos which to my eye show Grant building Geoff who seems to have all the screw holes where springs for the jaw and skull clasps have been removed to modify it for animation. I'd love to know if the eyes are some off-the-shelf LED light housings, plans seem to refer to them a "12V indicator LEDs". I suppose if one surfs the web long enough or pokes around auto parts stores one might run across a match or close substitute.

Some links via Popular Mechanics, complete "Bucky" skeleton

Though I'm attaching the skull pic only here, it's also available as a full skeleton which if you Google around you'll happen upon full length shots of Geoff which show he's on a 4 caster black rolling stand that these "Bucky" skeletons come with. The full skeleton is more money than I'd want to spend, but just using the skulls and say two cheaper skeleton hands along with cheaper material like PVC or electrical conduit to create the body it might be a fun, cheap build.

The electronics, motors and all are a bit sketchy on details of how Geoff is animated, but since there are a ton of how-tos videos to animate skulls and skeletons on YouTube a knock-off Geoff might be fun to build. It would be great if someone does make one if they can provide a tutorial on how to make or get all the servos and stuff one would need like me starting from dead scratch...
 

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I've done some electronics and basic animation stuff before. I'm working on a servo board for another project that would probably be easy to modify for this as well. Making a servo "follow" audio for mouth movement isn't too difficult. Since Geoff's other movements are pretty simple it probably wouldn't be too difficult to pull off.

Scottinthebooth
 
I know zip about servos and sound cards, but can sculpt the heck out of this skull I have. I might try it one of these days if anyone wants to draw up an idiot proof diagram of the parts for servos and how to wire/solder it up. I think it would be nice to have a skeleton robot head that randomly says "Balls" and "In your pants"
 
I'll try to put some reference stuff together for you. Servos are pretty straightforward to work with (relatively speaking). It'll be sometime next week though, this week is finals.

Scott
 
I've been slowly trying to put together a Geoff junior for a while now.
I found the skull referenced above on e-bay for like $20 shipped. It's hefty and a perfect match for Geoff Peterson.

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I'm kind of neurotic whenever I build something in that I need to have a certain part in my possession before I can start on anything else; and those damn eyes/lamps are it for me. I've searched for a bit and can only find lights that need to be imported at like 30 pcs at a time. Even then i'm not sure those lights are the ones. Until then, my Geoff Junior is just Big Daddy Geoff Junior...

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I know some of the sound quotes I want installed are the standard balls, in your pants and some modern ones. Like:
What the hell?
You *******!
Oh yea, I got a little place up there...
"Super creapaaaay!"

and his hilarious Wilfred Brimley tweet intro:
"Hi there I'm Wilfred Brimley for tweet mail, I don't use the internet and I don't care to own a cell phone either. When I want to get a message to Craig I do it by Carrier Pigeon or Pony Express, you understand me? Play the damn thing.
 
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You know something, i've been looking at this pic for a bit and just realized that his eyes are white.

geoff-peterson-anyone-grant-robot-16.jpg-76745d1323033843


In this link there is that same picture with a video underneath that shows his eyes glowing blue, like in the show.
Grant Imahara on creating and unveiling Craig Ferguson's robot skeleton sidekick tonight: Geoff Peterson lives! | Ken Tucker's TV | EW.com

I wonder if the indicators would look more like this instead?

Digi-Key - 350-1459-ND (Manufacturer - 557-1802-203)

Those are supposed to be blue, and yet are white when turned off. Something to think about...
 
That says to me that we're looking for white lenses and orange (or blue) LEDs. If even the white lenses could be located putting colored LEDs behind them would be easy.

Hey, put multi-colored LEDs behind there and his eyes could be any color you want...

Scottinthebooth
 
Well, I'm glad I my post seemed to resurrect interest in Geoff and I'm glad I'm not alone in being a Craig fan!

I looked a while for those eye lights through various automotive sites the other night fruitlessly. I was thinking about just trying to make a mold and eyeball them out of some frosty two-part acrylic. I watched Steve Neill do that for the under-saucer center light thing on his half-studio scale TOS Enterprise build and he made that stuff look so easy.

I wondered if Grant might have mixed white covers with blue indicators innards? I wonder if he would even remember where they came from? Until I really looked at those pictures I figured the eyes were spherical and probably just ping-pong balls with blue LEDS inside.

I thought of putting my skull in an old bowling ball bag and taking it around with a printout of the Geoff head pic to a couple of auto-parts places. I feel sure that if I plunk that bag down, say I need some help with something unusual and then pull the skull out it will be weird or funny enough to get some extra help finding either an exact match or close-enough indicator light.
 
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