3D Printing Brings Star Wars’ BB-8 to Life

You may have heard about this movie that’s set to launch just prior to Christmas. The Force Awakens has already begun to set records with the all-time highest internet ticket presale. Odds are good the newest Star Wars tale will set box office records as well.

Part of the appeal of Star Wars has always been the artificial intelligence of C3PO and R2D2. A new movie needed a new robot protagonist, and the soccer ball clone BB-8 has already begun to win over hearts with its cute appearance and personality that is mainly expressed in beeps and boops. BB-8 began life as a J.J. Abrams sketch on a napkin, and came into its own as a practical effect on set of the new flick.

Hobbyists bring BB-8 off the big screen with 3D printing. Courtesy of BB-8 Builders Club.

Given the little robot’s popularity, it comes as no surprise that hobbyists have already been hard at work building their own versions, and the best way to build a bespoke robot on a budget is additive manufacturing (AM). J.R. Bedárd, a software engineer from Canada, built his version of BB-8 using a 3D printer and around 656 ft. (200m) of white plastic filament. Total construction time exceeded 50 hours.

Bedárd’s BB-8 is about half the size of the “real” thing, and uses self-balancing wheels along with an Arduino microcontroller to allow movement. The bot is operated by remote control, and while it doesn’t roll like the one audiences have already begun lining up to see, it is equipped with LEDs that allow it to produce a variety of colors and other effects. The mini BB-8 was painted using orange nail polish (for the shiny finish).

Bedárd is not the only hobbyist to work on building a BB-8. A group calling itself the BB-8 Builder’s Club is dedicated to replicating the droid, also through the magic of AM. With all the work going into creating the replicas, it’s only a matter of time before CAD files begin appearing online, giving rise to even more rolling, beeping, orange and white droids.

Below you’ll find a video about Bedárd’s BB-8.

Source: LiveScience