A 17-year old self-proclaimed ‘tinkerer’ has come up with a way for anyone who can’t afford a BB-8 replica to build their own life-size version.
Angelo Casimiro has uploaded a 20-minute instructional video showing how to recreate a working BB-8 using mostly household products. Some of the items, like wood putty and a gearbox, might require a trip to the hardware shop, though.
The rolling droid is programmed using an Arduino Uno, an open-source controller board, with the body comprising of a domed styrofoam head on a papier mâché body modelled on a beach ball.
The ball-bearings are just four roll-on deodorant bottles connected to a board that allows them to move around the same as the movie version. Casimiro uses speaker magnets to keep the droid’s head in place as it rolls around.
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The whole thing is controlled using a free Arduino controller app that’s intended for remote-control cars and connects via Bluetooth.
While all of this might sound pretty low-tech and makeshift, the finished product is pretty convincing.
The entire cost for the project was less than $100, according to Casimiro, so he saved $110 by making his own BB-8 and gave it to his dad as a gift.
If your skills are a little rusty, Casimiro offers troubleshooting advice in his tutorial and shows off all of the issues he faced while making the BB-8.
This isn’t his first creation to gain some attention, though. The talented teenager was in the spotlight in 2014 for creating a pair of power-generating sneakers at the Google Science Fair.
➤ DIY Life-Size Phone Controlled BB8 Droid [Instructables via Tech Builder]
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