TORONTO – Star Wars fans can’t get enough of the new BB-8 droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its awesome rolling body. The droid’s design has fascinated fans and the tech community alike; so one super-fan challenged himself to create his own homemade BB-8 in just one day.
Industrial designer Christian Poulsen posted a video of his fully-functioning BB-8 replica over the weekend. The droid runs almost identically to the new Star Wars droid, with one moving ball acting as the body and another rotating along the top as a head.
“A quick one day project, I wanted to build my own functioning Star Wars droid. Using a Sphero, polyurethane foam, magnets and spray paint, I made this little guy,” read Poulsen’s website.
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The homemade droid is made from a Sphero Bluetooth RC ball, some polyurethane foam and neodymium magnets. Some creative painting skills transformed the little robot into a very authentic looking BB-8.
When the BB-8 first appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens previews it was assumed the droid would be computer generated; but – much to everyone’s surprise – the real BB-8 droid appeared on stage last week during the four-day Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim.
Its creators have stayed fairly tight lipped about how the real-life robot actually works, but we do know it was inspired by the Sphero toy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGKTs1Hprr8
Sphero connects to your smartphone or tablet via BlueTooth and uses a gyroscope and a series of wheels to move around based on your commands.
According to a report by Fortune, Disney worked alongside Sphero to create BB-8.
Many have theorized that BB-8 contains a series of magnets that keep it’s head and body attached while moving – just like Poulsen’s replica.
Want to take a stab at making your own BB-8? Poulsen has posted a step-by-step DIY guide for those interested.
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