Bridgetown’s “Robot Man” sits at a little table outside his house filled with pieces of scrap from a nearby dump site.
Near him is his latest creation, Robot 5 (R5) which took about two months to build. Made from items like the straps from a child’s shoe, a piece of rubber, an empty lipstick container and bits of a car door, R5 stands tall and has lights in the eyes and chest.
Using his hands to build things has always been a passion, says 49-year-old Hoosain Dixon.
“I have been good with my hands since I was a young boy of eight. I would fix old toys, and even put together old broken dolls. You see the field over there? That is where I get my scrap. Every single thing I used for the R5 I got at the dumping site. Even the 350 screws I used to put him together, I got at the dumping site,” says Dixon.
Hoosain Dixon assembles his robots using only hand tools. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
A father of three daughters, Dixon worked for 25 years in the hospitality industry but was laid off. He says he is currently unemployed and builds robots to keep him busy and make some money to support his family. Read moreÂ
