May the 4th Be with You, Hacksters!
In honor of nerds everywhere, we've compiled a list of the top Star Wars-related projects that range from droids to fun lightsaber effects.
NVIDIA Jetson Orin pit droid
After watching C-3PO and R2-D2 interact, we've all wanted a companion robot of our own that can react to its environment, and with NVIDIA's Jetson platform, it is more possible than ever. Goran Vuksic was inspired by the Pit Droids which are responsible for repairing pod racers, and in addition to creating a highly detailed 3D printed model, he also included a Jetson Orin Nano. With this setup, his robot could detect objects and move to face them on its own thanks to a pair of servo motors.
Hydraulic lightsaber
The "fwoosh" sound along with the slow extension of plasma when a lightsaber is switched on is iconic to the Star Wars universe. And because we don't have the ability to control plasma in that manner quite yet, Marb from Marb's Lab got fairly close by moving glycerin into a transparent tube and shining a laser into it. The process was then automated with the inclusion of a linear actuator that can push/pull the plunger to a desired extent.
Millennium Falcon control panel
Makers have been faithfully recreating Star Wars props for decades, and YouTuber The Last Outpost has designed a Millennium Falcon control panel to movie-like standards with the help of a few ESP32s. Each panel features a plethora of diffused LEDs and switches, as well as effects that can be adjusted via the ESP32's built-in webserver.
A bipedal, walking droid
Visiting the Galaxy's Edge park at Disney World is a lifelong goal for many Star Wars enthusiasts, so what better way to bring that experience home than building your own character? Robotics/maker YouTuber James Bruton's BD-1 droid, albeit a bit less capable than the real thing, is still able to balance and walk under its own power. The Teensy 4.1 controlling everything gets inputs from an IMU, puts the values through a walking algorithm, and then actuates the servo motor positioned at each joint.
Lightsaber with LED and sound effects
If working with glycerin and lasers isn't your thing, Adafruit's own version might be of interest. Made using an RP2040 PropMaker Feather, this compact lightsaber features a diffused polycarbonate tube filled with high-density LEDs and even a mini speaker. The lighting effects are initially triggered by an illuminated push-button, but further swings or hits detected by an integrated LIS3DH IMU play other sounds and patterns in response.
Volumetric 'hologram' display
Volumetric displays are graphical interfaces that show information in three dimensions rather than two, and while some are based on stacks of existing 2D screens or are truly holographic, they are most often very expensive. Mac70 took the approach of projecting images onto a quickly moving surface using a heavily modified DLP projector that could recreate monochrome 3D objects. Once finished with the core electronics, he enclosed this display in a true-to-life Holoprojector- complete with dials, buttons, and switches for adjusting the resulting projection.