The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 195

Mama Roby. an electric-driven robot who has room for an operator to ride inside, and Marty, "the two-faced Martian." an occasional visitor from outer space who appears after Roby shoots down his flying saucer. Roby sports a 38-inch neck and can grow from 7 feet. 4 inches to 8 feet. 4 inches, "when he drinks his milk." Mama Roby is definitely the boss, towering 8 12 feet tall with a 108-inch bust and a 126-inch waistline.

The characters owe their colorful costumes and much of their personal appeal to Mrs. Wilma Nagy. friend of the Pettits. who volunteered to sew costumes for all of the robots. The job turned out to be a demanding one.

requiring as much as 20 yards of material for one robot. She and Pettit have plans for intcrchanga-blc cosiumes to transform the robots into rabbits. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.

or even Uncle Sam. Pettit says his greatest satisfaction comes from watching the expressions on the faces of children viewing his show. He has future plans to enlarge the act to include education along with the entertainment, focusing on such topics as safety for children and ecolo- Continued on Poge 26 Mrs. Wilma Nagy, to whom the robols are grateful for their wardrobe, helps Droopy introduce himself. Visitors to the home of Mr and Mrs.

M. E. Pettit may never find any skeletons rattling around in the closet, but they should not be too shocked to discover a pistol-puewng robot in the garage. And while adults might blink their eyes amazement to see a motorized dummy whiving past in a little electric car. children aren't shocked.

They find Pettit's creations delightfully believable. Originator of the only robot show of its kind in the world, the Oklahoma City part-time inventor work on his first mechanical man almost three years ago. first obstacle." Ed remembers, "a- tinding workable parts 10 use in construction of the robots." He decided that used airplane parts were best suited to his unusual task. "1 started buying up new and used motors, actuators, and other parts. When 1 thought 1 had enough 1 just started putting them together" he explains.

A former safety engineer for insurance companies. Ed decided one day that he had "worked" long enough and determined to devote more time to "playing" with his ingenious hobby. That hobby has snowballed into a 40 -hour work "week in the exceedingly rewarding business of entertaining children with his "Roby and Droopy Show. The robots demonstrate their versatility in sharp-shooting, weighttifting, mind-readine. magic and tic-tae-toe.

utilizing 38 humanlike movements provided by Eds engineering genius. "Roby." the star of the show, can grasp, lift, pick up items and move about the stage controlled by a remote-control cord leading to a concealed control room which is a part of the candy-striped stage. Roby. a former Texas Ranger deputy who wears a big tin star and flashy cowboy garb, is invariably outwitted by the smart-alec dummy. Droopy, who drives his own little car.

Other members of the show are jKit. By Annette Prince Playing with Roby and Droopy Oklahoma City robot inventor has made children's laughter his hobby 24 OBSIT MAGAZINE NOVEMMR I J. IW!.