Having already built a working R2-D2 in 2002, Senna set himself a somewhat tougher task in 2010 with his Wall-E project. Based on the 2008 movie, Wall-E is a life-size version of a robot that never actually existed. To get the movements right, Senna worked from screen grabs and posters from the movie. Senna, who has a full-time job, spent 25 hours a week on the endeavor.
The result is a real-life version of Wall-E that, as the video below illustrates, can wave, move, hunch his shoulders and elicit the same sounds as the movie character.
Why? For years, Senna took his R2-D2 robot to a yearly Hope Cancer Survivors Picnic for pediatrics and delighted to see how the kids reacted. This year he took Wall-E.
In the video below, Senna and another Wall-E builder, Mike McMaster, explain how they came up with their creations.
Image courtesy of Mike Senna