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r2d2
A duplicated droid of the iconic R2-D2 in Star War
"Thank you for telling me all this. I know it can be hard to talk about, but war stories are important. I sometimes think it's my destiny—to see things, to be present, to witness the galaxy moving, evolving. It happens to me over and over again—but even so, I can't see everything. And so, I like hearing the stories. Recording them."
―R2-D2, to BB-8
Inspiration
When our team talked about what made us have the passion to build robots or somehow get involved in related fields, we found that we all shared similar experiences－those vivid and mischievous droids appeared in Si-Fi movies, which spread seeds in our childhood. Therefore, we decided to make R2-D2 at this Maker Party for children and wanted to make the same impacts on those unexplored galaxies just like R2-D2 had inspired us.
Development Process
Frame
Reuse the waste aluminum tubes to make the frame. A 1/1062 geared motor was embedded on the top as the actuator of head.
Functional Prototype
The differential drive base was powered by two DC-motors with 1/10 scale buggy Tires and one universal wheel under the main body.
Visuals and Decoration
We used semi-sphere styrofoam as the head and a sheet of an elastic-plastic board rounded the mainframe as the body which is colored by the acrylic painters.
My role
I, as a president of the Robot Club, primarily led this participation in Maker Party and decided what we want to build for this event. I was also in charge of design the structure and dynamics of the R2D2, then built it up with my teammates. In order to perfectly mimic the appearance of the authentic R2-D2, I recruited an undergraduate majoring in Art who ended up with a perfect work on our R2D2.
About the Maker Party
The Maker Party is an annual event held by the top1 magazine publisher-CommonWealth Magazine- in Taiwan which topics focus on parenting and children-related themes.
This is a charging exhibition and so as to the exhibitor, but every year our club is invited to exhibit in this event for free. This is a win-win opportunity for both. For them, they would like to gain the diversity of exhibitors, and for us, we are likely to increase publicity and light up those children's passion for robotics.
Photos @ the Maker Party
