Braaaaaaaaaains...

Well, brain surgery at least.  Since the electrical version didn't work, we're going back to mechanical beer dispensing methods.  Here I'm attempting to make Bender's antenna function like a tap handle.  This requires some linkage to get down to the lower head where the beer tap lives.  I made up a home made brain auger for the job.

Here is the antenna in the normal position...

And the GIVE ME BEER position.

I made the whole beer dispensing apparatus as a slide-out unit for ease of maintenence and cleaning.  It lives inside a piece of PVC pipe.

The fairly complicated and ineffective first try at linkage.  A cable ran over a pulley and activated the lever.

A later incarnation used a much simpler design, with a steel rod pulling on the lever attached to the tap.  It turns out this didn't work very well, either. On to plan C!

You can see the hinge and magnetic latch I added to Bender's mouth so it swings open to give me access to his noggin.