Uncovering the technical principles of the "Star Wars" robot BB-8

This should be one of the most watched non-human characters in the history of film and television. Yes, it is the robot BB-8 in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" which is currently showing in the United States. Since the official release of the first trailer in October last year, BB-8, with its peculiar structure and cute behavior, has quickly captured a large number of fans, and its popularity is no less than that of the protagonists. Of course, it is also the protagonist itself, and has a lot of scenes in the film. At the premiere held in Los Angeles recently, BB-8 also "rolled" on the red carpet as one of the protagonists.

As a sci-fi blockbuster, Star Wars has more than one robot. R2-D2 has become a symbol of the era. However, BB-8 has received such widespread attention because it not only exists in the image, but also in reality.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a film produced by Disney, and Disney is best at turning virtual creations into reality, that is, peripheral products. Before the release of the film, Disney teamed up with a toy company Orbotix to create an identical BB-8, but much smaller in size. The BB-8 robot is about 7.4 cm in diameter, about 11.5 cm in height, and weighs less than 200 grams.

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Orbotix was a little-known company before being selected by Disney. The reason why it was selected was because of their smart robot ball Sphero. This robot ball can be controlled by a smartphone. After turning on the Bluetooth function of the device and searching for the Sphero smart ball, you can give full play to your imagination to realize some interesting ways of playing, such as running bouncing actions on the stairs or walking on the floor for more than an hour.

This robotic ball later became BB-8's body, which was able to move flexibly and quickly. BB-8's head was a semi-sphere, but the interesting thing was that the two seemed to be able to separate from each other but not separate, as if they were stuck together, which was how BB-8's "body" could "roll" forward easily without restriction.

In the movie, BB-8 is controlled like a puppet. It is not easy to make a BB-8 toy into a robot that can walk freely like in the movie. While people are amazed, the working principle of BB-8 has also been hotly discussed. Some people believe that its two internal gears provide power for the robot, and the balance is maintained by adjusting the counterweight. When the head uses the magnetic unit to interact with the sensor in the ball, it can know which position is upward and which position is forward. BB-8 can automatically adjust the head globally without falling off.

Techcrunch recently exposed a Sphero patent in a report, revealing the working principle of BB-8. Unlike the outside world's belief that the two balls of BB-8 work independently, this patent reveals that they are actually integrated.

In this patent titled "Magnetically coupled self-propelled device", there will be a gravity device inside the sphere, which consists of two shaft-wheel motors and a vertical mast. During the movement of the shaft-wheel motor, the center of gravity of the sphere will shift, thus affecting the movement of the sphere.

In fact, to put it simply, its working principle is similar to that of a space ball. When an object enters, the center of gravity of the sphere will change by changing its position, which will eventually cause the ball to rotate and move forward.

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In order to find out, someone brutally dismantled the robot, like this:

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When it comes to the head, many people think it is constantly moving backwards to keep itself in an upward position. In fact, it uses magnetic levitation technology. There are magnets on the mast inside BB-8's body, so it can always stay on the same horizontal line with the center of gravity of the sphere. So we can see that during BB-8's movement, it is usually tilted, which is because the center of gravity is always tilted during the movement.

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In addition, the rotation of BB-8's head can be achieved by adding motors and sensors.

BB-8 can be remotely controlled by a terminal device, and combined with a mobile phone APP to control its movements and directions in the room. It can even rely on voice control to start patrol mode. It will automatically find a route to walk around the house like a pet robot. However, it seems that the APP is currently only available in iOS version.

On the 9th of next month, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will be released in mainland China. I believe that BB-8 will set off a whirlwind again. In fact, long before the movie was released, BB-8 was already on sale in stores such as Apple Store, priced at $149.99. It is said that the holographic projection function is available!

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