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R2-D2 project? — Parallax Forums

R2-D2 project?

JohnGayJohnGay Posts: 57
edited 2012-05-01 06:32 in Robotics
Ever since I saw the voice activated R2-D2 toy, I've wanted to get one to rip out the guts and add my own intelligence. On the upside, all the mechanics is built and tested. On the downside, It's probably pretty small and tight to work in. Anyone got some input or thoughts?

Comments

  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2012-04-28 17:12
    How big is the toy?

    Do you have a link?
  • JohnGayJohnGay Posts: 57
    edited 2012-04-28 17:17
    http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=77944&refsku=75698
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2012-04-28 17:29
    I have had two of those for a while, but haven't tried hacking. Pretty well done for what they are. They're big with Star Wars collectors, who are the only ones paying the current $200 price. One of mine was a yard sale purchase for $30. If you can find one under $50, I say hack away!
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2012-04-28 17:36
    I think I'd pay $50 for one.

    I'd want to try to preserve its sound effects; they're pretty cool.

    I wonder how it does on carpet and transitioning from a hard floor to a carpeted floor?
  • JohnGayJohnGay Posts: 57
    edited 2012-04-28 17:47
    Yea, R2-D2, the most vulgar character ever. They had to bleep out every single thing he said (-=
  • JohnGayJohnGay Posts: 57
    edited 2012-04-28 18:14
    http://interactiveartoo.blogspot.com/

    Found this on modding him, but it concentrates on the head rather than the body. Should be room for a Propeller and maybe Arduino or Raspberry PI as well.
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2012-04-28 19:38
    I'm not personally a big fan of R2-D2 (but I am a bit of a fan) but I'm still tempted to get one of these to hack because kids like R2-D2 so much. I've noticed kids (and many adults) don't like wires hanging out of robots. They like a nice finished look. To me the functionality of a robot is more important than the appearance, but I've found many people seem to care more about the appearance of a robot than what it can do. A R2-D2 body would give a robot a nice finished appearance.

    I wonder if there are less expensive plastic models about the same size. I'm betting the motors in the thing wouldn't be as powerful as I'd like so I'm not sure if there's much use to purchasing an electronic version of R2-D2 if I'm going to redo the electronics anyway.

    Does the head of this R2-D2 look correct to you all? It seems a bit too tall. Maybe I'm just used to seeing R2-D2 at an angle so his head just looks shorter in the movies. Edit(4/29/12): After looking at other photos of R2-D2 on the web, I think the head looks correct.

    Darn it, I already have way too many projects. I'm going to wait on this one until after my robot fish, robot safe and robot centipede (plus a half dozen or so other robot projects) are done. (Unless I see one of these for a really good price.)
  • JohnGayJohnGay Posts: 57
    edited 2012-04-29 04:11
    Sorry, duane (-;
  • JohnGayJohnGay Posts: 57
    edited 2012-04-29 04:30
    How about this one?
    http://r2-r9.com/index.html
  • smithdavidpsmithdavidp Posts: 146
    edited 2012-05-01 06:32
    Yeah.....200 bucks is a lot to spend for a shell full of, what may be, worthless stuff. Now if it were a chassis around the size that Diver Bob is working with that would be a different story.
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