Boy Scout Robotics

WALL-E visited a Boy Scout troop for a presentation on robotics. We partially disassembled WALL-E, passed around parts and molds and explained how many of WALL-E's parts were made. The boys listened with great interest and asked a lot of thoughtful questions. It is always great to see the enthusiasm of young people toward technology, and we hope to inspire them to pursue their own challenges building creative projects.

peeking inside WALL-E's front panel

passing around parts & molds

taking WALL-E's head off to remove his body

Muscular Dystrophy Summer Camp

WALL-E entertained the campers at the MDA Camp at the Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center in Orange.

"Hi, WALL-E!"

This group of kids was passing by outside & got to peek at WALL-E

CHOC Visit

WALL-E enjoyed his 3rd visit to CHOC this year (Children's Hospital Orange County). It's always an honor to be a small part of these kids' lives, helping to brighten the day for patients and their families.

Victor Franco & his R2-D2, Mike Senna & his WALL-E

photos courtesy Justine Senna

Discovery Science Center

WALL-E played with the kids at Discovery Science Center by pretending to "scare" them. As you can see in this video, the kids loved this! They of course were not really scared, just pretended to be, and their parents were amused. WALL-E never got close to the kids, but he sure had fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1iN-eYCo5Y

Hollywood Preschool Visit

We visited future robot builders at a preschool in Hollywood with our WALL-E, Michael McMaster's WALL-E and Victor Franco's R2-D2. The kids asked some great questions and some enjoyed learning how to operate the remote control. Each child received a WALL-E hand stamp. One of the teachers wrote what each of her kids said about their favorite part of the visit, and gave us a copy to take home. Precious things kids say! Especially that one of the tools used to build the robots is  a "twisty thing you do for screws."  :-)

HOPE-A-Palooza 2013

Larger than Life - L.A. Family sponsored a carnival for 700 to 1,000 family members of children being treated for cancer at participating Los Angeles-area hospitals. WALL-E attended this fun event at CBS Studios in Studio City, along with several Star Wars characters, to spread joy to the families attending. For more info: largerthanlifela.com

Our family, including our daughter dressed as Padme from Star Wars

 

 

WALL-E met some furry creatures from Endor

Maker Faire, Bay Area

Wall-E melted the hearts of thousands of Bay Area visitors to the Maker Faire May 18-19. This unique event celebrates DIY, hi-tech and creativity. Michael McMaster & Mike Senna brought their creations to inspire Makers of all ages to follow their dreams and create the amazing things they dream about. It was our third year at the event, to show our progress on the project. Our booth was sponsored by Progressive Automations, which makes the actuators used in our WALL-E.

Visitors were amazed to learn that the project took 3 years to complete. They enjoyed seeing some of the parts molds and looking at photos of the build process to better understand the detail involved in building EVERY SINGLE CUSTOM PART FROM SCRATCH. This was mind-boggling to many. (Nope! No off-the-shelf parts!) We displayed one WALL-E unit on a tabletop with the outer body removed so that visitors could see the inner workings, electronic circuits, servos and actuators in motion. We also drove our second WALL-E unit to entertain the crowd, which kept pouring through Fiesta Hall nonstop Saturday and Sunday. While visitors of all ages took countless photos of our WALL-E, we enjoyed taking photos of them interacting with WALL-E. Hope you enjoy the smiles on these faces as much as we did!

 

Click here to see adorable baby video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gbmW5Yv28Bs