I've finally started on the electronics for BeeTee. Various types of logic displays are available on Astromech and they are all worth the money. However, I really wanted to attempt to build my own. I started with a 3d printed base and frame. Then I added 2mm fiber optic cable and a couple of 7x Neopixel disks and Arduino Nano. The original R2D2's logic displays were a color wheel spun by Kenny Baker while he was inside R2. The light went into strands of fiber optic cable. I am trying to mimic this effect.
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The strands are cut to length depending on their logic board's location. Then the end is stripped to fit into the printed base. They vary in strip depth to give a 3d effect when lit up.
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The KCup is just a prototype light funnel. It works so I can use it to make the final version.
R2-D2 has blue and white logics. For BT-1 I went with purple and orange. I thought about red and purple but I didn't want to take away from the affect that giant red eye was going to have on people.
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Speaking of that red eye, my next project was to take that bulky Halloween light and turn it into something more manageable. I also wanted to power it from BeeTee's power source and not the AA batteries.
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Before I cut it up I wanted to make sure I didn't break anything by taking it apart.
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A rotary tool made quick work of the plastic. I kept one of the octagons as a place to glue down the electronics. Yes, that is a toilet flange. It was unused. It was in my parts bin from a few years ago when I used it for a base for a Mr Fusion on my DeLorean in a Christmas parade. Also, yes. That is a coffee can lid. I make things out of garbage.
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