One of the most exciting parts about the upcoming release of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens is that we'll finally get to see the new BB-8 droid in action. While you could shell out 150 bucks to get your hands on Sphero's new BB-8 toy and have the chance to see the droid roll off the screen and into real life, with a little more elbow grease, you can actually build your own BB-8.
The folks over at Make: magazine have provided some step-by-step instructions on how to create your very own full-sized BB-8 droid. The BB-8 droid consists of two custom-molded polycarbonate hemispheres that are three-eighths of an inch thick. The four-person team of makers that constructed the BB-8 used a photo of BB-8 and R2-D2 taken at this year' Star Wars Celebration to determine the scale of the droid.
The makers then used a stud and cam system to put the two halves of the hemispheres together. The studs are strong enough to keep the hemispheres from sliding a part while the cams have the tension to keep them together.
For the internal structure of the droid, the makers used parts from ServoCity's Actobotics line and 3D printing. They also took inspiration from the original Sphero model and Sphero 2.0 to replicate the head and motion of BB-8.
Make: magazine will reveal more details about how to build this project yourself in the near future, but you can head over to the website for these initial details now.
