Martin McBriarty, a UF materials science and engineering senior, is calling all Gainesville residents to donate scraps and junk for his personal summer project: creating a nearly 40-pound robot costume.
After seeing similar outfits worn by rock band "The Killer Robots," McBriarty and his friend, Jessica Awad, have taken on the challenge of constructing their own costumes. McBriarty said they'll probably wear their costumes to future robot shows.
Awad, a UF entomology and nematology senior, said she came up with the idea after meeting "The Killer Robots" at a party Saturday night. After seeing the robot costumes up close, she said she asked McBriarty to use his engineering skills to help her build one.
"I'd rather build (a robot), but I think the costume is probably as close as I'm going to get," she said. McBriarty jumped on board and said he wanted to build one of his own, too.
Awad said they'd probably build the costumes in her backyard and try to keep the cost under $100 by soliciting donations of materials.
A LiveJournal post from Monday asks for Gainesville residents for free items such as kid's toys, household drainage pipes or "generally light and quasi-durable junk."
Awad said she wants her costume to be interactive like one band member's outfit, which had pieces of the Simon game with colored lights.
"I want, like, cannons on my arm," she said. "That would be really cool."
McBriarty said he's not sure about his design details.
"It should be ominous and unhuman and terrifying," he said. "But, if you looked closely, you might see a boom box rear panel for a breastplate or a steam vent made from the spout of a laundry-detergent jug."
He said he hasn't ever built much of anything, and he's excited to take on such a new project.
"I figured I'll kind of wing it and see it where it goes," he said.
