Star Wars Galaxy's Edge BB Droid LED Modification
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2024
- I decided to modify my custom BB droid from the Droid Depot at Galaxy's Edge by adding a third LED to the BB's head. This was an impulse modification with zero planning ahead of hitting record on the video except for asking in the #makerspace channel on the Galaxy's Edge subreddit discord server what color LED would be appropriate. They said yellow and so that's what I went with. As this was an impulse mod it's a long and rambling video as I work out how to wire things up.
The Galaxy's Edge subreddit and a link to the discord server may be found at / galaxysedge .
I can confirm that there are only two magnets on my unit as well. I was thinking of adding better magnets to increase stability and noticed it was missing. I also noticed that when the head is installed the two “T” shapes do not actually line up properly. The end up making + sign when the head is installed. Experimented with flipping the magnets to get the T to line up, but that reverses the direction of the droids forward and reverse movement. Gonna do some more experimentation when I have time. Great video!
How's this been? I've been doing some research before I work on mine
in my opinion he doesn't get enough popularity for doing cool stuff like this
Their are three head types for BB units. The BB dome with is one of the most popular and the type of head BB-8 has, the Imperial Dome with is the type of head BB-9e has and it’s the head for the first order and the type of head that is in the video, than their is the Flat Dome which is the head for the other resistance droid’s. Their are many head possibilities but those three heads are the only choice’s at Droid Depot in Galaxies Edge in Disney Land and Disney World. Their are also 6 different personality chips that can make your droid sound different, their are two First Order Personality chips, two Smugglers Personality chips, and two Resistance Personality chips.
The design or the interior makes me think that at some point is going to be a translucent BB head, like the R3 type
at this point there is
Since the head is assembled by the costumer, the molded interior is also part of the experience. It needs to look nice because the customer will look at it.
Great videos and very educational! I was hoping to find a way to make my BB-8's current LEDs brighter. Any videos on that?
Could you have used the color changing LED with a fairly large capacitor to make the color "charge up" or change the more you get the lights going?
Fun video! Have you opened the "motivator" in the base up yet? There is an adjustable knob for something. Please let me know if you know what it's for. My unit is having trouble getting enough power to light both both stock LED's. Just the red one lights unless it is on top of the "motivator" without the shell. Any ideas on how to increase the power to the head?
I have opened the motivator and I know of the pot you're talking about! I don't yet know what it does, but I know it connects to the bluetooth controller.
as for the LEDs, have you tried changing the batteries?
red LEDs require a lower voltage than blue LEDs to turn on. that only the red LED turns on makes me think you're not getting enough voltage to the head, which makes me think batteries.
if that doesn't work let me know.
@@Ruthsarian I did replace the batteries but the results are the same. I uploaded videos of the problem on my account. Also, uploaded video of the droid getting activated and it doesn't look like the lights are working from the start. (We had the cast member turn off the droid before boxing so it wouldn't go off on the way back to the hotel. Otherwise, I would have noticed before leaving the park.) Any ideas for repair? (I don't have a tool to measure power.)
I watched your videos. You're right, it does seem like the lights weren't working right when it was activated.
My guess is that the copper coil in either the top of the motivator or inside the head that is used to transmit/receive power wirelessly has been installed in the wrong place or broken free from where it should be. The coils wouldn't align properly and the increased distance between them would mean less power getting through to the head to power the LEDs. In this video the coil would be under the center of the gray, stubby t-shaped thing you see at around 8:05 in the video. That'd be the first thing to check. For example there's a place where a third magnet might have originally been intended to go, but it's empty on mine. Perhaps someone installed the coil there by accident and not in the middle.
I haven't opened the motivator up to the point that I've gotten to the coil is at the top. Maybe you could shake it a little and see if there's any rattling coming from the top of the motivator indicating the coil is loose.
It might be worth contacting customer service at Disney and explain the situation to them. Maybe they'll offer a replacement, which might be less of a headache than opening up your droid. If they can't do anything for you, then start opening the droid.
I do think this likely an issue with one of the coils. Maybe check the soldering connections where the coil connects to the metal contact pads inside the head look good. Inside the motivator the coil connects to the main board via a yellow connector (marked 'L1A' on the PCB; but it's also the only yellow connector on the board). You could try reseating that connector, but be very careful to not pull on the wires to disconnect it, just the plastic connector to disconnect it. They're using super thin wires crimped into the connector's pins. It'd be really easy to just pull one of those wires out.
But start with contacting Disney customer service.
@@Ruthsarian I have taken the whole thing apart and checked everything I could without a meter. I have also contacted Disney about it. I was hoping you might know of a way to boost the power connection between the coils. I'll let you know if Disney helps.
Disneyland came through and sent me some new parts! It was a bad motivator. For some reason, not enough power was being sent to the motivator's coil. Bad board?
It took about a month to get a response, but when I did, I was very impressed with the Disneyland Galaxy's Edge merchandise customer service member that helped me.
do you know of a place to get parts or custom stuff for the bb droids? i just picked one up and it’s kind of underwhelming compared to the official and unofficial support for the r2/c10 droids and i guess it’s cuz of how much more “complex” the bb droids are but all i can find for them are like carying cases and stands on etsy and whatnot, im not too knowledgeable on electronics on a smaller scale since i mainly just work on cars and such but me and my gf are excited with these and was hoping you knew the place to go to for stuff like this? any help is appreciated. thanks!
Another great video! Do you install lightsabers? I bet you easily could with your expertise.
Lightly sand the that red one
I love this idea! I want to do this to my R2 droid, but the R2 droids have a 3 wire connection. I am not that knowledgeable on electronics to wire it in that configuration, but I can follow directions. Is there a way you are able to do a 2nd video or a detailed description in the comments?
Thank you.
I have an R2 head that I'll try to mod this weekend.
That would be fantastic! Thank you.
Do you happen to know if anyone has successfully added a working 3.5mm jack to an R2 unit yet?
I wonder if the battery can be modified tray to accommodate let say a battery pack for more power n run times plus recharge Capabilities
Your video is super helpful! I have a plan to stash an arduino feather BTLE in the top unit along with sonar + gyro to make mine semi autonomous. Do you think the wireless pulses provide enough voltage to power the arduino if I toss in a capacitor?
probably not. i think there won't be enough current to power the arduino and sensors. the power is only being generated when the droid is making noises (thus blinking the LEDs), so either the droid needs to constantly be making noises or you don't need the arduino to always be on.
i think you'd also need to modify the circuit in the head. design a circuit that takes the power from the coil, rectifies it (any standard 1n00x would do), clamps it to some usable voltage (a 3.3-5V zener diode) and filters it (a capacitor) that would then be used to power the arduino.
i think you'd be better off adding a separate, rechargeable battery to the head and use that to power the arduino. maybe figure out a way to add a female plug to the head so you can plug something into the head to recharge it when needed so you don't have to keep opening up the head to recharge the battery.
@@Ruthsarian cool yeah that was my thinking too in the end. I’m just adding a small 3.4v lipo to power the sensors and the arduino. Also there’s a tidy charging bold by adafruit which I’ll just use with an exposed usbc port for charging
@@Ruthsarian its begun instagram.com/p/CRMwfpGrBea/
Out of curiosity, where did you get your arm stand that you suspend the LED for soldering?
That one I bought from mouser.com, you can find it here:
www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/485-291
There are many options out there. You can find ones just like it out there on amazon or ebay or elsewhere. Just search for "helping hands" or "third hand" and you'll find them all over the place.
This particular one, the magnifying glass holder was loose and the lens would often fall out. I ended up using a blob of solder to hold the frame of the lens together. Other than that, no complaints.
@@Ruthsarian Thanks.
So does that mean you can put 2 more leds?
Yes
I'm looking to modify or make a new head for my two bb-8 droids. I'm thinking of changing out the 3 rubber bumps on the bottom for casters. I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit them into the current head, so I might end up 3d printing a new one and transplanting the electronics. Has anyone come across anything like this? I'd also like to add in a camera into the head, but the small camera I bought is a link glitchy.
Also, I took mine apart and there's only 2 magnets in mine as well. I don't think you lost yours, I think they just left that plastic place for another magnet in the file after finding that the head wouldn't move with the rubber bits on the ball when the magnetic attraction was that strong @Ruthsarian
i'm interested to hear how the casters idea turns out. i haven't heard of anyone trying something like that. that might make for much smoother head movement.
this is in line with what I plan to do with mine. Did you ever do this mod?
I want to install an Arduino feather BTLE in the head along with sonar/gyro sensors to add obstacle avoidance to my BB.
You can install a small FPV camera which is powered by a tiny lipo battery if you want to add FPV. Like this:
www.amazon.com/Integrated-Transmitter-20MW-200MW-Adjustable-Crazepony/dp/B078PK98HC/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=aio+fpv+camera&qid=1625594802&sr=8-5
@@MT-mt1gn I could never find casters small enough, and I'm not confident to 3D print them, since they'd have to be such finely detailed. I've also had some other stuff come up this past year, and I never actually got to drawing up a file for a new head. If I get some free time after my final I'll look into it more and see if I can find anyone else who has done something like this. I remember James from x robots did one when ep 7 came out, but that was a full scale droid
@@lukecobabe3673 awesome, yeah i just got to down to the base with the magnets. I'm going to design and print a replacement top that will hold my arduino+sonar. Should be easy enough. With the lack of security on the BTLE commands they made this pretty hackable.
@@MT-mt1gn you should make a video on it once you do, I'd love to see how you mod it all together
It’s 2020 wireless connections
First!!!
(Fascinating video.)