James Bruton is a robot making madman. He builds robots non-stop and has been going absolutely crazy on the Star Wars universe. You’ve probably seen him on YouTube, under the name Xrobots
Here’s a quick overview of the Droids that James has been building. He’s got a BB-8, an R6, and my favorite, the GONK. You’ll note that the bulk of these builds are 3D printed. James really puts his 3D printers through a workout, and probably uses more filament than any other individual I know (except maybe Michael Curry). These aren’t even all of his robots, he’s got a ton going on, including a life sized, automated Ultron, a freaky xenomorph, and a massive hulk-buster costume.
Each of these droids actually has a ton of information available on James’ website. You can read about the design, electronics, and structure as well as follow along as he actually comes up with the concepts and builds them.
Here’s the section for the GONK. What I find amusing about this bot is that it was probably played by an extra in a costume in the movie, but James has actually brought this bipedal waddle bot to life!
You’ll note that James didn’t go the classic route of building an R2 D2, opting instead for the R6 variant most easily identified by the blocky shape of its head.
And of course he’s building a BB-8. Surprisingly, this isn’t even the first one he’s built. Before we knew what was actually inside BB-8, James started guessing and built an incredibly complex system that worked for the most part, only to find out that it was not how the real thing functioned.
One of the coolest things about his projects is the fact that he’s made everything completely open source. You can browse through his Github account and download all the files you would need to replicate his work.
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