In the lead-up to the launch of ADABOX 008 (shipping late June/early July – sign up now), we’re celebrating some of our favorite #MakeRobotFriends from movies and television.
We’re rolling out one of our favorite new characters in the Star Wars universe. BB-8 first appeared in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and subsequently stole everyone’s hearts. With its roly-poly body and puppyish charm, it’s not hard to understand why BB-8 is arguably the break-out star. There’s already a huge dedicated range of BB-8 collectibles and apparel.
Wikipedia: BB-8 is a spherical robot with a free-moving domed head. It is white, with orange and silver accents and a black optical lens on its headpiece. BB-8 also possesses multiple panels containing various tools or ports. Scanlan said of the robot’s personality, “We always imagined BB-8 as being quite manipulative. I think he knows he’s cute. He knows that he can win people over. And he uses that, like children do, to get his own way. In this film, he has a very important mission that he has to accomplish and so he uses his personality, his coyness, and all of those things.”[3] Of BB-8’s gender he said, “I’m still not sure, dare I say, whether BB-8 is male or female … BB-8 was female in our eyes. And then he or she became male. And that’s all part of the evolution, not only visually, but in the way they move, how they hold themselves.”[3]
Calling the robot a “Swiss Army Knife that shouldn’t be trusted”, he noted that while each of the BB-8’s panels has a specific purpose, like a port or tool, not all of them have been absolutely defined to leave options for future films.[3]
Take a look at droid builder Mike Senna’s BB-8 replica he made for convention appearances!
We’ve featured on our blog amazing BB-8 posts from our maker family community. Find more here!
- BB-8 made from EVA foam with Servos
- Homemade BB-8 Body made from Fiberglassed Globe
- 3D-Printed BB-8 by @XRobotsUK with NeoPixels
- DIY Life-Size Phone Controlled BB-8 (via Instructables)
Don’t forget to sign up for AdaBox008 ‘cos it’s all about Robots!
AdaBox 008 – MAKE ROBOT FRIEND! (video)
Adafruit loves Robots and wants you to #MakeRobotFriend with CRICKIT, the Creative Robotics & Interactive Construction Kit. It’s an add-on to our popular Circuit Playground Express that lets you code using CircuitPython, MakeCode, Arduino, etc. to make robotics, arts, crafts, audio animatronics, sensors, agriculture/robot farming, physical computing, kinetic sculptures, science experiments, telescope control and much, much more!
What do you love most about BB-8, or have you built your own wee droid? Tell us all about it in the comments!
