So I'm guessing the BB-8 has nothing in the lower part. It's just a ball. The head has three omni-wheel/holonomic roller things riding on the ball below and driving everything.
Who will be first to build a Propeller based BB-8 ?
So I'm guessing the BB-8 has nothing in the lower part. It's just a ball. The head has three omni-wheel/holonomic roller things riding on the ball below and driving everything.
Nope, it can't be that way. If so it would be impossible for the head to "tilt" while stationary. It has to be like in the xkcd drawing - except with an articulation for the head magnets.
Hmm...On first watching the vid I had the impression that it never did tilt it's head without rolling. Except briefly before any roll could build up. Certainly when BB-8 is sizing up R2-D2 it tilts it's head and rolls around R2-D2.
And again when entering and leaving the stage BB-8 tips it's head down in the direction of travel.
On watching again I'm not so sure. You might be right. Especially since the BB-8 manages to twist it's body ball around without it's head changing direction.
So, yes, there probably is a mass on omni-wheels rolling around in it's body. Makes sense as you might want some bigger batteries to drive locomotion.
Now, I'm not so sure about those head magnets. Seems over complicated. Why not just have a separate head unit rolling around on omni-wheels?
I'm voting for magnetic castering wheels. I see just a bit of gerbilling and stiction when the bot moves. Either way, very well done and certainly fun to watch in action.
I'm working on a bot with crazy motions on the bench right now for a client. Not quite this crazy, but still entertaining. Robots are even more fun when you get paid to build them!
+1, especially when they sell replacements for all the heads that get lost somewhere. "Cost reduce those magnets that hold the head on" said the VP of marketing.
Just saw the You-Tube video of BB-8 on stage with R2D2 that is supposed to prove it is a real robot, not just a fiction dwelling in computer graphics.
But watching the movie promotions, my gut feeling is that it is both. And there may be some 'movie fake' included as well. In other words, even if you replicate the BB-8 robot, it may not be able to perform at the high speeds given in the previews. And some of the on-stage performance of the robot may be attributed to puppeteering, not an autonomous robot.
I am sorry, but this is Hollywood and all about 'make believe'. They know so well how slip a few details past us for 'wow factor'.
Anyway, I do love it. And one certainly can build a bot atop a rolling ball with today's gyros, accelleromeers, and a GPS unit. Wifi and bluetooth communications and video camera are possible. I suspect even speech.
What no one seems to have posited is that it is in fact two robots, a body (sphero-type) and a head (turtle-type) plus magnet(s) as per xkcd bot. . This would allow the head a reasonable degree of freedom in 3 axis.
Eventually someone will put up the technical details on this interweb thingy and prove us all wrong.
I'm wondering what they did for communication. I imagine that the head and body do talk to each other. The whole thing has to be controlled by a "puppeteer" some place. Is that one link to the BB-8's head and the body as a slave unit, or vice versa.
BB8 is cute, but quite frankly its a novelty at best and I'm surprised at all the interest, its all anyone talks about anymore. I'm more interested in making a walking TARS robot from Interstellar. That was outright puppetry in that movie, there was a guy (Bill Irwin) walking behind it in most scenes and he was digitally removed later.
Erco: I had forgotten about TARS. The movie was a bit of a yawn but the TARS bots were seriously cool. In this video. https://youtu.be/kcVklm7iz9M from 6:19 you get a breakdown of the bots and a nice shot of their skeleton.
@lanternfish: Both Adam Savage and you (back in post #18) use the word "posits". Clearly that's a high-Q buzzword I need to start dropping into my daily conversations.
The Fan-made TARS bot made mostly of lumber. Nice.
OT: I'm still trying to persuade our set builder to assist me (he will have to do all the construction) to build a Dalek. Old school I know but I grew up watching Doctor Who.
This Brit done REAL GOOD. Wow, did he ever do it the hard way, balancing on top of the ball. Smarter than me! Sounds like Robin Leach... Androids of the Rich & Famous. Champagne wishes and balanceball dreams!
lanternfish
Posts: 366
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Who will be first to build a Propeller based BB-8 ?
Nope, it can't be that way. If so it would be impossible for the head to "tilt" while stationary. It has to be like in the xkcd drawing - except with an articulation for the head magnets.
And again when entering and leaving the stage BB-8 tips it's head down in the direction of travel.
On watching again I'm not so sure. You might be right. Especially since the BB-8 manages to twist it's body ball around without it's head changing direction.
So, yes, there probably is a mass on omni-wheels rolling around in it's body. Makes sense as you might want some bigger batteries to drive locomotion.
Now, I'm not so sure about those head magnets. Seems over complicated. Why not just have a separate head unit rolling around on omni-wheels?
It is definitely two separate robots...
I'm working on a bot with crazy motions on the bench right now for a client. Not quite this crazy, but still entertaining. Robots are even more fun when you get paid to build them!
John Abshier
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/star-wars/11551973/Star-Wars-BB-8-droid-how-does-it-work-how-much-will-one-cost.html
John Abshier
+1, especially when they sell replacements for all the heads that get lost somewhere. "Cost reduce those magnets that hold the head on" said the VP of marketing.
But watching the movie promotions, my gut feeling is that it is both. And there may be some 'movie fake' included as well. In other words, even if you replicate the BB-8 robot, it may not be able to perform at the high speeds given in the previews. And some of the on-stage performance of the robot may be attributed to puppeteering, not an autonomous robot.
I am sorry, but this is Hollywood and all about 'make believe'. They know so well how slip a few details past us for 'wow factor'.
Anyway, I do love it. And one certainly can build a bot atop a rolling ball with today's gyros, accelleromeers, and a GPS unit. Wifi and bluetooth communications and video camera are possible. I suspect even speech.
Eventually someone will put up the technical details on this interweb thingy and prove us all wrong.
I'm wondering what they did for communication. I imagine that the head and body do talk to each other. The whole thing has to be controlled by a "puppeteer" some place. Is that one link to the BB-8's head and the body as a slave unit, or vice versa.
And does his camera eye work?
What is that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZR64EF3OpA
Wizard=puppeteer.
Bill Irwin interview at 1:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RILVEZMwQY
Adam Savage on TARS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UoOhdvQYmo
Fan-made TARS bot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApoUm5TSQeY
And the whole doggone movie online: [video]http://ffilms.org//?s=interstellar[/video]
@lanternfish: Both Adam Savage and you (back in post #18) use the word "posits". Clearly that's a high-Q buzzword I need to start dropping into my daily conversations.
And back to BB-8 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlwcXgZYImU for a head unit so making the body roll must be even easier (smiles and runs).
The Fan-made TARS bot made mostly of lumber. Nice.
OT: I'm still trying to persuade our set builder to assist me (he will have to do all the construction) to build a Dalek. Old school I know but I grew up watching Doctor Who.
Strangely enough I was pondering how similar the BB-8 and a Dalek look if you squint hard enough.