R2-D2 Builders Club...

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Death Star plans...

I guess an R2 unit really should have a copy of this file...   just for screen accuracy!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgpTHHP-WSA

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are my only hope...

Something like this, to put on a projector screen from our R2D2 unit perhaps? This is Rob Meyer's re-edited Leia message. He actually captured the scene and then edited it frame-by-frame  in photoshop. A crude way, but effective way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf-1xeE3zzE

Filler and sanding...

Apart from 3D printing alot of pieces there is also all the work with perfecting every part after printing is done. We chose to do all the prints in high-resolution to make it easier to make a nice finish...

R2D2:s arm from the front, there is suppose to be two of them. These are composed of 3d prints that are made in four seperate parts, then glued together. There is a lot of sanding, filler spray, sanding, then more filler spray, several layers...

so there is four parts on each arm, they are printed two at a time, And there is three pieces of sort of like a box, where the arm is folded inside, which are also printed. These three parts (not shown in picture) also takes around 8 hours each, to print in high resolution, and these arms have about 14-16 hours of printing in them already. And that does not include all the work that goes into perfecting the object afterwards...

This is sort of like half way through the process! A lot more hours to go!

Attaching servos to the holo lenses...

So we were really wondering about an effective sollution for the attachment of servos to the hololenses. Just attaching them directly to the 3D printed hololens-part didn't really sit that well with me.

Today I saw this, as another member at the forum, Mowee has made this great printable frame! And it's available as an .stl file through the Astromech.net forum!

It never stop to amaze me, how wonderful this hobby is with all the engineering details, little projects that the community seem to find nice sollutions to, one piece at the time...

Just received the Teeces lightsystem...

...and now it's fully operational! Here we have added some temporary frames just to test out the system but it seem to be functioning just fine!

We are really happy with the way it has turned out! The frames we have 3D printed, the tubes are pvc piping, so we got those together with the light-kit. The logics run off of a arduino, and Curiousmarc has originally written the code!

Just some close-ups!

Running the dome...

Just looking at others solution for the dome... basically it goes something like this:

...and that is what makes the dome able to spin around and around and around... the bolts can't be to long as they will hinder the movement as you place it on the slipring.

The engine you can find here but also at alot of other places too:
https://www.amazon.com/12Vdc-Right-Angle-Drive-Electric/dp/B005IR1NBA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1421189468&sr=8-5&keywords=seat%20motor

But there is some assembly required, so here is a basic tutorial from youtube:

Noted is that we will probably go in a different direction since these kinds of engines can be a bit loud, they have a high-pitch...so some kind of high-torque engine, we will get back to you on that one as we look into other solutions... 

R2D2 electronics sketch...

Basically the Marcduino set-up goes something like this! Teeces lightsystem and 16 servos to control the dome functionality with all hatches open and close, two servos to each holo-lens, and a wifly socket because Marcduino has his own app for running the R2 unit. Extremly well-written program if you ask me!

Basic sketch:

Here Marc demonstrates the R2 touch - app, available at the appstore, and more currently also for android as I have heard! We are going to see if we can get this kind of functionality into our R2 unit because when someone already made a system with high-functionality it would be kinda stubborn to develop another system that would be far worse. If the support ends for this app we will make our own controller though.

We are also currently looking at different motors for the feet-drives. An Astromech can weigh about 60 kg so there is alot of weight to pull around!

Testing Arduino...

This is an easy assembly from a Arduino Uno kit, trying out the code just for fun and see how the system works. Mostly because I hadn't tried it before.

Basically connect like this:

/*
*
*
*/
#include <LiquidCrystal.h> // includes the LiquidCrystal Library
LiquidCrystal lcd(7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12); // Creates an LC object. Parameters: (rs, enable, d4, d5, d6, d7)

int backLight = 13; // set pin 13 to control the backlight;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:

 lcd.begin(16,2); // Initializes the interface to the LCD screen, and specifies the dimensions (width and height) of the display }
 lcd.print("hello, world!");

 pinMode (backLight, OUTPUT);

digitalWrite(backLight,HIGH);

lcd.clear();

lcd.begin(16,2);

lcd.setCursor(0,0);

lcd.print("Hello, World"); // can change any words you want;

lcd.setCursor(0,1);

lcd.print("I feel good!"); // can change any words you want;

}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

 delay(3000);
 lcd.clear(); // Clears the display

 lcd.print("Arduino"); // Prints "Arduino" on the LCD
 delay(3000); // 3 seconds delay
 lcd.setCursor(2,1); // Sets the location at which subsequent text written to the LCD will be displayed
 lcd.print("Makes magic");
 delay(3000);
 lcd.clear(); // Clears the display
 lcd.blink(); //Displays the blinking LCD cursor
 delay(4000);
 lcd.setCursor(7,1);
 delay(3000);
 lcd.noBlink(); // Turns off the blinking LCD cursor
 lcd.cursor(); // Displays an underscore (line) at the position to which the next character will be written
 delay(4000);
 lcd.noCursor(); // Hides the LCD cursor
 lcd.clear(); // Clears the LCD screen

 }

I did not clean up this code, so use it for what it is, just a test! 

Some of our 3D prints so far...

Basically we got all the files to 3D print an entire R2D2 if we wanted to, but in our view of things, it just feels slightly wrong to 3D print all of it, so we will go for a mixture of materials. Right now though, some of our 3D prints have actually turned out pretty well!

Here is one of the holo-lenses from R2D2:s head:

We are using Simplify3D for slicing the 3D model files, made by Michael Baddeley who can be found through Thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/mrbaddeley/about or through Facebook or the Astromech.net forums. He has been kind enough to opensource his files, through the forums and R2 builders community.

These are made with Ultimaker 3, and high resolution print, about 22hours printtime, but the details are looking sharp and good.

Large logic (rear) on the Dome, in high-resolution, printed on a Ultimaker 2 with high-resolution settings from the Simplify3D slicer.

This is made on a Forge Finder SE, with the same high resolution settings, about 14 hours printtime. We decided to go for High resolution on all details, even though it makes every print about two to three times longer. But the quality of the prints are really worth the wait!

Soldering or tinkering...

We also had a look at curiousmarc's sketch-up for running the droid on specific arduinos, called "Marcduino" cards. They are adapted Arduino boards specifically designed for the use of droid-control, servo, coordinated light and sound effects and so on!

There is always the option of building an entire new system, and there are some other systems that are widely spread throughout the R2D2 builders community.

Basically it is possible to order these cards off a site called Oshpark, https://store.oshpark.com/

they do keep alot of neat stuff, but there is some work to be done as is to be seen in the second picture.

Some of the R2 builders use what they call, SHADOW together with a Padawan 360 system, which is infact using a Playstation 2 or XBOX controller to actually manage the droids technical systems. We have a background in regular RC flying and cars so we will go for a more traditional sollution with RC controllers but also Arduino or Marcduino to manage some of the electrical systems.

After actually putting the cards together there is ofcourse the actual code to be written onto these cards. ,,,babysteps. Marc does keep some very useful information on his website. If this is the system we are going to use or not. Well, time will tell. We got the cards, so it is a definite option.

http://www.curiousmarc.com/dome-automation/building-marcduino-boards

For now, we are looking at how to interconnect the light&sound system with dome automation, and also the mechanics for the feet-drive of the R2 unit.