This Real-Life WALL-E Replica Is Adorable, Awesome

03.08.2012
In 2003, Mike Senna charmed the Internet with his . Now, he's winning even more people over with . And, it only took him two and a half years.

A California-based robotics hobbyist and prop maker, Mike Senna has a full time job as a computer programmer. It's one of the reasons he took so long to construct everyone's favorite little trash compactor robot. The other reason is there was no precedent. Up until the point Mike decided to craft a WALL-E of his own, Disney's sweetheart of a robot existed only on the big screen. There was nothing that Mike could refer to--no pre-existing schematics, no special parts, nothing. He had to do it from scratch.

According , Mike spent at least 25 hours a week on his little endeavor and took approximately 3200 to 3800 hours to finish the project. Most impressively of all, the development costs all came out of his own pocket.

Like his replica of R2-D2, Mike's WALL-E has seen a lot of travel. Over the last few years, it has made appearances at Riverside Robotics Society's Robot Expo, Makers Faire, Yahoo's The Yo Show and the City of Hope Pediatric Cancer Survivor's Picnic.

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Cassandra Khaw is an entry-level audiophile, a street dancer, a person who writes about video games for a living, and someone who .