A Robot, A Movie, A Series, A Browncoat by twitch

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A Robot, A Movie, A Series, A Browncoat

POSTED BY: TWITCH
UPDATED: Thursday, September 7, 2006 21:46
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VIEWED: 1483
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Thursday, September 7, 2006 11:02 AM

I hope you don't mind a wordy post from a newcomer, but there's a story behind the question I'm asking. It may make no difference, but I hope it does, and I hope I don't bore anyone in the telling:

My wife and I fell in love with Serenity after getting the movie in a double-pack with Chronicles of Riddick. Until that time I hadn't even heard of Serenity, Firefly, or any of it. ARGH! There are times I regret not watching much TV. This is one of those times.

Since then we bought the series, and have watched both movie and series several times. Until today I didn't know about the graphic novel. With any luck it'll be here by the end of next week. (You might say we're both fans.)

When I'm not watching TV I have fun with my hobbies, one of which is building small robots. There's a particular robot competition, mini-sumo, for which I'm building out two robots. One is a heavily modified kit-based two-wheel wedge, but the other is taking shape as a scratch-built four-wheel-drive system.

There are two approaches I've seen to building bots for this competition. One is to build for speed, sacrificing torque for the ability to outmaneuver the opponent and hit them with higher kinetic energy. The other is to build for torque and traction, sacrificing speed for doggedness. The 4WD platform is being built mostly for torque and traction, similar to an ATV.

Every robot must have a name in order to compete, and the name must be clearly marked on the robot. So when I finally got the drive motors and wheels laid out and looked at the thing taking shape on my bench, the first name that came to mind was "Mule".

So here's my quandry: I've fallen in love with Serenity and its characters. I'd like to express that by naming this thing Mule. Better still, I'd like to give it a bit of character with some creative bodywork and artwork, mostly in the form of laser engraved aluminum side panels. There's enough Serenity artwork on the web that this wouldn't be an onerous task.

But I'd only do this if there was no issue with using the name or artwork. My aim, aside from giving a fitting name to a robot I'm building, is for people to see it and ask questions. I love talking about Serenity and Firefly (just ask the people I work with). I hope that by doing this I can find other people who, like me, utterly missed the series and the movie, and introduce them to it.

Let me know what you think.

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 11:37 AM

DONCOAT

Sounds like a great idea to me!

Since your mule probably won't have anti-grav hover lifters, maybe you should paint it yellow. But setting it on fire is probably against the rules.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm pointin' right at it!

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 11:47 AM

TWITCH

Nope, no antigrav lifters, unfortunately. Bad for traction, anyway. You nailed it, though: I was aiming at the yellow color scheme. If I can pull off a two-tone anodizing job on it, that'd be my first preference. Failing that it'd have to be paint.

And no, setting it on fire isn't allowed, either. Though I do take heart that the 4WD mule made its last journey without a driver. This is an autonomous robot, so it's somewhat fitting.

Thanks for the positive feedback on this. I'll post artwork before cutting metal.

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 12:05 PM

AZHEA

Welcome to our side o' the 'verse!!!

Yes, please, post artwork. I'd love to see the process. And good luck in the competition!

*************************************************
I aim to misbehave!

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 12:34 PM

VERSEEXPLORER

It's not boring. It's fun to hear about what drew folks into the 'Verse. The Mule sounds cool. I hope you can post some pics of it when it's done.

_______________________________
Mal: Saffron, you're pleasing, you're all kinds of pleasing, and uhh...it's been awhile, a long damn while, since anybody but me took a hold of my plow.

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 12:48 PM

RMMC

Welcome, twitch! Let me offer you a glass of Irish whiskey.

I like the Mule theme. on thing I noticed in the movie was that the mule had an unfinished 'Serenity' logo on the front side (eg: the painted circles but no writing--English or Chinese--on it.) mayhap you'd link to add that as well.

******
RMMC

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 8:57 PM

WINDSTRUCK

I like it.
The mule would be great.
Good way of recruiting too.
A Robot Battle.
Round1:
THE MULE VS. THE FOX!!

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 9:12 PM

FLORALBUNNY

Welcome home, twitch (#22437) --
As you can see, we're glad to have you aboard our
shiny ship.
We love the stories about how people find our special
part of the 'Verse. Never boring!
We admire those who make stuff, too.
The original Mule would be honored, I am certain, to live on in a functioning, unburnt state.

Please have a dish of strawberries and cream, and
here's a mug of Mudder's Milk. Traditional welcome
for new browncoats.

With any luck, FollowMal will find you and issue
a snappy new virtual browncoat which will fit you
perfectly.

Now for the buffet. It's up in the galley, if you'll just follow me past our own Mule and up
these airy-looking expanded-metal stairs.

bun
9/19 Arrrrrrrrh!
9/20 Happy Birthday, Captain Mal!!
9/30 Happy Anniversary, BDM!!!

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Thursday, September 7, 2006 9:46 PM

RESE

Welcome aboard the board, Twitch!

Love the "mule" idea; you should have no trouble finding motifs and art direction here -- promise you'll post pictures when you are finished.

Help yourself to the various and sundry on the sideboard.

FollowMal will be along shortly with a "virtual Browncoat" of your very own. Wear it with pride!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RadarRese

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