Out of all the members of the MythBusters Build Team, Grant Imahara was arguably the
most capable at building stuff.
Plus, the man has loads of connections to major motion pictures and tons of experience
crafting combat robots.
Let's geek out and discover the truth about Grant Imahara from MythBusters.
In 2010, Grant Imahara promised to build a part of television history and then he followed
through on that promise.
It all began as such things often do on Twitter.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Imahara had noticed that Craig Ferguson, the former
host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, had taken to calling his Twitter followers
his, quote, "robot skeleton army."
One thing quickly led to another.
As Imahara told the Star-Advertiser,
"At some point, they put two and two together and said, 'He should have a robot skeleton
sidekick."
Imahara would prove to be just the man to build it but there was a catch: The talk show
host had to drive Imahara's Twitter followers over the magic line of 100,000.
Ferguson quickly rose to the challenge.
According to Popular Mechanics, Imahara found his part of the deal considerably more difficult
to deliver.
He tinkered with the robot while shooting MythBusters, which meant precious little time
for sleep and a huge rush to get everything done in time.
Popular Mechanics reports that Imahara soon found himself in something of a bind with
only one week before the deadline,
"He still needed to write the software that would make Geoff move, and build Ferguson's
control box."
Despite his struggles with the project, Imahara managed to deliver on his promise big time.
"Oh, that's cold, Craig."
The end result was Geoff Peterson, a snarky, remote-controlled skeleton.
The creation became so popular it even has its own Wikipedia entry and ironically, that
entry is significantly longer than Imahara's.
"It's our first day together so we're just kind of working out the kinks.
Right Geoff?"
"Why not?"
Ferguson absolutely loved Geoff Peterson.
And shortly after Ferguson left The Late Late Show in 2014, Imahara took to Twitter to give
fans a much-needed update on everyone's favorite robot skeleton sidekick:
"For everyone who's asked me 'What happened to Geoff?'
I can report that he is safely with Craig in his personal office!"
And no wonder.
Ha, ha, ha.
You're the man, Craig."
If you're in the business of building robots, you probably have to brace yourself for constant
jokes along the lines of: "Your creation is going to kill you."
Well, Grant Imahara might not find those jokes particularly funny he was, in fact, almost
killed by his own robot.
Several times, actually.
According to Make magazine, the robot in question was appropriately named "The Spider."
It was a huge, 625-pound walking machine that Imahara built to be strong enough to carry
a man.
The Spider didn't exactly come alive and try to kill its creator it didn't need to.
Imahara unintentionally created optimal conditions for a full-fledged sci-fi nightmare.
The robot was a particularly challenging and complex one to design and develop, and Imahara
made the mistake of testing The Spider late at night and all alone.
Here's how that played out:
"F---.
Whoo!"
And apparently that's not the only time the robot could have seriously hurt or even killed
Imahara.
As he told Make magazine,
"Working late at night by myself, there were a few too-close calls when the robot almost
crushed me.
Pro tip: Don’t do what I did.
Never work alone around heavy or otherwise dangerous equipment."
According to his profile at the USC Alumni Association, Grant Imahara spent nine years
working at Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects company founded in 1975 by George
Lucas.
And during that time, he got to work on some truly fantastic franchises.
We'll get to Imahara's wide-ranging work on the Star Wars prequels in a hot minute, but
first, you should know that he also built models for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix
Revolutions.
According to Mouser, he also got to work behind the scenes on films as varied as The Lost
World: Jurassic Park, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and AI: Artificial Intelligence,
to name just a few.
As the saying goes, it's all about the friends you make along the way.
During his time with Industrial Light & Magic, Imahara got to know two other ambitious model
makers: Tory Belleci and Adam Savage.
Grant Imahara isn't the only MythBuster to work on the Star Wars franchise.
As Tested reports, both Adam Savage and Tory Belleci have built models for the movies.
But Imahara's contributions are truly impressive.
According to Mouser, Imahara is the guy who brought R2-D2 up to date for Star Wars Episode
I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
From speed controls to radio gear, he replaced R2-D2's inner workings with modern technology.
The most visible change?
Imahara designed a new system for the droid's light displays.
He removed the old "rotating color wheel" lit with halogen light, and replaced it with
a custom LED rig that, strangely enough, wasn't specifically designed for R2-D2.
It was actually created out of a gadget from the main engines of the Protector, the spaceship
in Galaxy Quest.
We don't really know which one.
What's more, Mouser reports that,
"[Imahara was one of] three official R2-D2 operators in the United States."
Sounds like quite the responsibility, right?
Well, as he told Nerd Alert,
"Actually driving R2 is fairly simple.
Um, there's one joystick.
The right thumb controls the body."
Wondering about the left thumb?
Imahara goes on to reveal,
"The left thumb controls the little hollow eye, so you don't have to do that very often."
Pretty impressive credentials, no?
It's on your resume."
"It's on my resume."
And that's not all.
According to Wired, Imahara spent a decade as something of an official backup C-3PO,
wearing the golden suit for assorted appearances including a memorable Oprah segment:
"I'm here with some of the most popular Star Wars characters.
C-3PO!!!!"
Grant Imahara is one of the many minds behind the iconic Energizer Bunny.
In 2011, AL.com reported that the Energizer company fell out with the original designers
of the mascot and needed to find someone to build new bunnies.
Imahara turned out to be just the man for the job.
Mouser reports that Imahara personally built the circuit that enables the Bunny's famous
ear movements and beating arms.
He also installed and programmed all the electronics for the bunnies during his tenure with the
project.
Imahara has shared some deep dark secrets about the sprightly battery mascot.
Despite appearing rather small in the commercials, the Bunny is actually about two feet tall,
and it's filled to the brim with electronics.
It actually takes a whopping 44 AA batteries to get them working... and yes, Imahara assures
us they're all Energizer batteries, so you can sleep easy tonight.
It apparently took a team of three people just to keep the arms operating like they're
supposed to.
Imahara's crew built three bunnies named Earl, Floyd and Garth.
They must have cost the company a pretty penny, as Imahara told AL.com:
"I can't tell you how much they cost.
But if you know what a Ferrari Testarossa costs, each bunny costs that much."
And believe us when we tell you…
that's the final word on the subject.
You know Grant Imahara is a respected robot designer, but you might not know that he's
also an expert in the fine art of building potentially murderous machines.
He used to make regular appearances on the robot-combat show BattleBots, but judging
by a 2018 tweet, it looks like he's thrown in the towel on that particular hobby:
"I’ve retired from robot combat.
My first fighting robot Deadblow was almost 20 years ago in 1999.
They made it into a toy and I wrote a book on the subject."
Indeed, it turns out Imahara has written what might be the definitive guide to crafting
your very own kickass machine and it's appropriately named Kickin' Bot: An Illustrated Guide to
Building Combat Robots.
This 528-page primer tells you everything you need to know about making robots that
wreck other robots and the text anticipates any problem you might stumble upon as you
tinker.
In his book, Imahara tells you how to design the bot, what materials and tools you'll need
and where to purchase them, and even where to place the weaponry.
Imahara's collection of instructions and techniques come complete with easy-to-understand diagrams..
Long story short: You can build a combat robot with simple materials that are available at
any electronics and hardware store.
So if you're looking to assemble your very own robot army, this is a great place to start.
As for Imahara, his building skills were apparent at a young age:
"Set Number 357.
The Legoland Fire Station, 1973 was my first Lego set."
There's been plenty of fanfare about Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage's BattleBots robot
Blendo, but as we just mentioned, Grant Imahara is a respected veteran of the robot combat
arena in his own right.
We imagine you want to know more about his diabolical creation, Deadblow.
It was a sleek, middleweight gizmo armed with a powerful pneumatic hammer.
The robot's tenure on BattleBots was a highly successful one.
Deadblow was victorious in two "Middleweight Rumbles" and even ranked as the Number One
robot in season three.
Imahara remembers his time on BattleBots with great fondness.
In 2014, he told Make magazine:
"BattleBots is like a really cool party where your robot is your ticket to enter.
It’s about testing your ideas against smart, tough competitors, and about the thrill of
combat.
Taking damage is part of the fun.
And bringing home a giant nut (the trophy) isn’t bad, either."
Even if your work happens to be an impossibly cool combination of scientific experiments
and nifty machines, it's nice to go home to someone you love at the end of the day.
Grant Imahara would undoubtedly agree.
According to NextShark, Imahara's longtime partner is Jennifer Newman, and she shares
many of his professional and personal interests.
According to their joint interview for StarWars.com, Newman is also a model maker, as well as a
costume designer.
"I have that perfect age range where I grew up on those '80s films that sorry honey that
Grant worked on."
According to TMZ, Imahara decided to take their relationship to the next level in 2016,
and proposed to Newman in a typically fearless fashion.
He bent his knee in a Los Angeles restaurant, amidst 250 guests who thought they were there
for a surprise birthday party.
The risk not to mention the $20,000 vintage diamond ring was clearly worth it.
Newman's reply was reportedly, and we quote,
"F--- yeah!"
The name Tomlinson Holman might not mean much to you unless you're an audio buff, but for
Grant Imahara, it means the world.
According to the USC Alumni Association, Imahara was struggling with his engineering studies
to say the least.
As he told TwiT Tech Podcast Network,
"I'm falling asleep in my classes.
I don't have focus.
This sucks."
A counselor reportedly told Imahara to meet with Holman, who was a professor of cinematic
arts, and also the man who developed the revolutionary THX sound system.
You know the one.
Imahara was instantly starstruck and offered his services as Holman's unpaid personal assistant.
Holman accepted, and Imahara spent an extremely eye-opening year working under him.
Holman's innovations at THX helped renew Imahara's passion for engineering by teaching him creative
ways to apply his talents.
Then, Holman scored the young man an internship at the company, which turned into a full-time
job after Imahara finished his studies.
And finally, after three years with THX, Imahara got an even more alluring job with another
well-known Lucasfilm company: Industrial Light & Magic.
The rest, as they say, is history.
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