Star Wars’ BB-8 by Sphero Is the Droid You’re Looking For
How he works
The big to-do about BB-8, besides his ridiculously cute shape, is how his head stays stationary above his rolling body. In fact, when The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams rolled BB-8 on stage at the Star Wars Celebration in July, the Internet erupted with questions about how the droid’s head stayed put.
It turns out that BB-8’s head is connected to his body through a mix of midichlorians and magnets (but mostly just magnets). Yes, now you can thank magnets for both confounding The Insane Clown Posse and giving the world BB-8.
By the way, when I watched the BB-8 vid it's head definitely took a dive forward as it accelerated off stage. Just as if it was the head balancing on a ball. Like the Brits version.
Hasbro has a cheaper ($80 vs $150) version at Target. From the video it looks wobblier than the sphero version, and the head moves backwards as it accelerates.
Hasbro has a cheaper ($80 vs $150) version at Target. From the video it looks wobblier than the sphero version, and the head moves backwards as it accelerates.
I saw 5 on the store shelf last night, 1 today. Thus far, I have resisted the temptation. It's cute the way it rolls, just as are the balancing robots are cute. But beyond that, I'm not sure they bring much new to the party. Of course, Christmas is coming and the wife will be looking for recommendations from Whit...
Great find, Sir Whit! They both gerbil a fair amount, even on that carpeting, which damps out some of that motion. I feel much less apologetic for my uber simple Ball Bot now!
Comments
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/star-wars-bb-8-by-sphero-is-the-droid-youre-128259027014.html
Star Wars’ BB-8 by Sphero Is the Droid You’re Looking For
How he works
The big to-do about BB-8, besides his ridiculously cute shape, is how his head stays stationary above his rolling body. In fact, when The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams rolled BB-8 on stage at the Star Wars Celebration in July, the Internet erupted with questions about how the droid’s head stayed put.
It turns out that BB-8’s head is connected to his body through a mix of midichlorians and magnets (but mostly just magnets). Yes, now you can thank magnets for both confounding The Insane Clown Posse and giving the world BB-8.
By the way, when I watched the BB-8 vid it's head definitely took a dive forward as it accelerated off stage. Just as if it was the head balancing on a ball. Like the Brits version.
http://www.target.com/p/star-wars-episode-7-remote-control-bb-8-only-at-target/-/A-16879679
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=4&v=Ea4IlpGfquY
What whit and Xanadu said!
Jim