Interstellar TARS build

Alright update on our model!
The blueprints were kind of disregarded when we found the perfect sized plexi glass for the screens (so ignore the skinny screens).
The pattern will be drawn with heavy marker soon.

0dPNz7l.jpg

The thing I desperately need help with are the videos shown on the tablets. Or are they webpages that just emanate sentences with javascript delays? If anyone could give me a link or an idea it would be greatly appreciated :)
 
Rebelscum said:
Look up earlier in the thread for discussion on it.
Click to expand...

The only thing that this guy fell short on in my opinion is that he didn't work in a way to lift the legs as he moves them, so he has to tilt the whole thing side by side when he walks it. Don't get me wrong, this is a tremendous effort but it just shows how important that one subtle difference is in recreating the defining way in which TARS moves!
 
Hey RPFers, I'm a new member here but have lurked for a bit and saw this thread that I can actually contribute to! I have made a couple different TARS toys at different sizes. I saw Interstellar and immediately had to start sketching out how to make a working figure when I got home from the theater.


prhi-tars-09.jpg prhi-tars-05.jpg prhi-tars-10.jpg prhi-tars-01.jpg
My 'big guy' for now is a 6" scale magnetic model that can pivot at the central axis and the top axis. This is the biggest model I could reasonably make on my 3D printers, but I would love to scale up and make a more 'deluxe' model in 1/6 scale. I envisioned adding a detented ratchet system to the magnetic joints for support, but couldn't get a fine enough feature on my printers at this scale. If I scale up to 1/6 on a new machine, I'll try again in order to allow a greater range of movement. For the 6" model, I added a couple of 'teeth' to the joints in order to support the weight for the high-speed mode and walking modes, but it's obviously not the most refined system.



prhi-tars-kenner-01.jpg prhi-tars-kenner-04.jpg prhi-tars-kenner-06.jpg prhi-tars-clean-02.jpg
My bread and butter has been my 1/18 scale model, articulated at the center axis with a 5 mm peg (a common size among a lot of the 70's and 80's Japanese toys that inspire my work). The TARS design lends itself really well to a toy with its simple shapes and variable models.


prhi-tars-vintage-02.jpg prhi-tars-vintage-05.jpg
The latest thing I've been tinkering with is this 'vintage style' figure, printed in silver plastic with minimal, clean details painted on and left with a gloss finish. The idea behind this version is that it's how I imagine Kenner would have made TARS if Interstellar had come out in the 70's.

Hope you all dig them, I'm super impressed seeing all of the other versions folks have been cranking out here!
 
Hey all, over in the 2015 Secret Santa Thread, I made my recipient a TARS plush toy. I leaned pretty heavily on this thread for dimensions and detailing, so I thought I'd share the results here :)

View attachment DSC00045.jpgView attachment DSC00050.jpgDSC00065.jpgDSC00064.jpg

And thanks to all the blueprints everyone posted, it's (mostly) to scale! 15.1" long with 2" foam inserts. Button jointed through a single fiberglass tent tube axle.

I also put a voice module in the left leg, so if you squeeze it, you hear Bill Irwin saying, "Everybody good, plenty of slaves for my robot colony?" (Humor setting: 90% :)
 
Are you looking to make it fully functional? If so, I suggest having some sort of weight that slides from top to bottom of each leg, which would allow the rolling/walking shown in the movie.
 
Hi everyone, I'm new here. I plan on building a full size Tars to sit in the corner of my shop and watch over things. Lots of good info here.

Does anyone know the actual finish color of Tars during his first appearance. I'm planning on using aluminum sheet and thinking maybe there is something stock anodized that matches.
 
I have been very interested in building one myself, so much that I'm almost ready to show off the plans to make a few of them, basically just like they were built for the film.

Devin (from Blue Realm) and I have a lot of hours into the project, which came as a practical possibility because of my work making R2-D2 skins for the builders group.

Devin modeled him in Solidworks, Basically, all the engineering is done, we are just finalizing all the costs to us and doing tests on the materials we're using.

A couple design progress pics from the models:

tars1.jpg



tars-exploded.jpg
 
@Rebelscum That looks really great.

It looks like you have the face panels as one piece with channels cut in them for the lines? I work in a stainless steel sheet metal shop and was thinking each square could be cut individually and then placed very carefully. But after thinking more about it, it will be very hard to make sure each section is perfectly square not to mention getting them all placed perfectly.

Any ideas for using a solid sheet and getting those grid lines added in a realistic way?
 
That looks really look and true to the original, I thought it stuck out in the film, I always thought they were trying to make an R2 type robot.

I like what you have done and the design process for it.
 
justabust said:
@Rebelscum That looks really great.

It looks like you have the face panels as one piece with channels cut in them for the lines? I work in a stainless steel sheet metal shop and was thinking each square could be cut individually and then placed very carefully. But after thinking more about it, it will be very hard to make sure each section is perfectly square not to mention getting them all placed perfectly.


Any ideas for using a solid sheet and getting those grid lines added in a realistic way?
Click to expand...


Justabust,

That particular exploded view has all of the individual panels on the same plane, but they are separate from each other.


Screen Shot 05-12-16 at 08.17 AM.JPG
 
Gotcha. Have you done any tests with laying panels down all cut to size? For me it will be hard to get them all cut perfectly, and any out of square panel will translate to some crooked lines. Also I paid special attention to the Interstellar extras after becoming interested in this project (which started 2 days ago), and they did use stainless. I wonder what alloy and finish they started with. I have access to a lot of 24 gauge 304L and 316L 2B finish material.
 
justabust said:
Gotcha. Have you done any tests with laying panels down all cut to size? For me it will be hard to get them all cut perfectly, and any out of square panel will translate to some crooked lines. Also I paid special attention to the Interstellar extras after becoming interested in this project (which started 2 days ago), and they did use stainless. I wonder what alloy and finish they started with. I have access to a lot of 24 gauge 304L and 316L 2B finish material.
Click to expand...

Squaring not an issue as the frame and panels will all be laser cut.

Our research into the build showed many different types of finish on the different props. We are settling on one in particular, and are concentrating on getting the name plate with the brass done, because that one has to be grained after the brass is joined to it.
 
Laser cut is the way to go. I have access to a shear and plasma cutter. The plasma won't leave a nice enough edge finish right off the bed, and grinding clean will probably not be the best idea.

If you source out the laser cutting I'd be interested in getting in on that action. I'm probably going to build the frame out of wood. I'm looking for this to sit stationary in my shop, so I'm not going to get into all the mechanics of making it walk.
 
Rebelscum By the way, I have a 60 ton press brake that can be used to bend up some metal if you need. Not sure what equipment you have access to, but I would like to help you out any way I can with this. I'm excited about the level you are taking this to.
 
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justabust said:
@Rebelscum By the way, I have a 60 ton press brake that can be used to bend up some metal if you need. Not sure what equipment you have access to, but I would like to help you out any way I can with this. I'm excited about the level you are taking this to.
Click to expand...

the shop we're working with has everything we need except the ability to machine the parts we'll use for the pivot points, which I'll do on my Haas Lathe and Mill. I've been working with them a year, on R2 parts and they are exactly what this project needs.

Nothing actually get's bent, it's all flat, drilled, tapped and screwed together and the ss panels get double stick attached to the frame.

They are intended to be pose-able, but not something you could walk with. Though the build is the same, just without the necessary parts to puppet it with.

The flat ss panels could be attached to wood, no problem and getting another set done would be easy.
 
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