Robotic Uprising

I've started my submission for the art-o-mat. If you don't know, the Art-o-mat is a wonderful group of artists who can be found here. They have an amazing method for introducing people to artists by way of refurbished vending machines. The concept itself is a treat, but to really understand the impact of their philosophy you have to see one of their machines in action. It's not to be missed, and fortunately there's little chance of that happening. Their machines are scattered around the country so there's a good chance there's one near you.
I want to be a part of this in a big way.
The submission process is pretty straightforward. They ask that you send in a piece of work to be checked out. From what I can tell it can be pretty much anything, although they don't like glitter or other materials which wouldn't hold up well during shipping and vending. There are a few more rules, but all extremely mild.
The one rule they are inflexible on is the size of the item. Since this is something that will be put in an old cigarette vending machine, all artwork must be able to fit in a cigarette box (unfiltered).
I didn't think this was an issue until I started my first piece.
My thought was to have a hand held meter or gauge which detected the amount of robotic threat in the vicinity. Pretty easy, right? I thought so to, until I stared my first one. The shell of the meter was beautiful. It was round with a round glass window set in the top through which the gauge was visible. However, the shell was too big for the Art-o-mat. Being round, there really wasn't a way to slim it down to fit either, so I'm starting again.
My second attempt has a wood shell for the meter. It's light (which may or may not be a problem), and has a window in the top third of the face for the gauge. So far, it looks good. I have a few more assembly things to do and then I'll take a shot of it for the site. But even in its unfinished state I'm pretty happy with it.