Meet Toothless.
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This weekend he is going to be latest in a line of robotic wonders to feature at the 2019 Ironfest event, which marks the iconic Lithgow festival's 20th anniversary.
His creator, Paul Aitken, has recently made Lithgow his home and continued his tradition of creating wondrous robots to bring along to wow the crowds at Ironfest.
But his latest design may be his most ambitious yet.
Toothless, modelled from the iconic dragon hero of the smash-hit 'How to Train Your Dragons' film franchise, will have a wingspan of 5m as well as moving and roaring.
"His wings work. He will have a 5m wingspan and his wings will fold up."
Watch as Paul documents the road to creating Toothless.
When Paul was looking to relocate from Sydney, Lithgow seemed the obvious choice.
"It felt like I knew half the town anyway, because of Ironfest," he said.
Paul's love of robots started very young.
"As soon as I saw the first Star Wars film, I fell in love with robots," he said.
A visit to a family friend whose son had built his own radio shack cemented it.
"I came home that night and pulled apart a transistor radio - by the way, it never worked again," he said, laughing.
"Something in my brain clicked and I knew I would have a technical career."
Pursuing a career with Telstra, he joined an R2D2 builders' club based in Sydney 14 years ago, which morphed into the Sydney Robot Workshop.
"It became clear people wanted to build all sorts of things, not just droids," Paul said.
The building workshops helped Paul develop the construction side of his robot designs.
Paul's shed is a wonder for the lover of sci-fi and fantasy. There is an R2D2-like bot and several other droids of Star Wars fame.
There's a working model of Sarah the bossy triceratops from 'The Land Before Time' and a decidedly nasty looking customer inspired by the 'Terminator' series.
And let's not forget K-9, Doctor Who's favourite robot dog companion.
Now for some dancing robot fun:
Paul's love of robotics has also led him to tinker with robots called 'social interaction droids', which intend to teach autistic children how to recognise and respond to social cues without the pressure of dealing with a peer.
"This is an area that is really taking off," Paul said.
Look out for Toothless at this year's event, featuring full movement of eyes, ears, mouth, tongue and sound. He will be part of the ever-popular robotics showcase within the ballroom at Lithgow Showground.
Toothless will not be contained in the ballroom at all times, however. He will be venturing out to spread his full 5m wingspan.
"I just love people's reactions at Ironfest. I get a sore jaw just from smiling so much," he said.
"It's something big and small people love."
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Kirsty Horton
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
