WB8 - a droid from the WrightBuilt.ca workshop

Hello, Stephen here with the introduction to My Own BB-8 project.

WB8 is a droid created on the third planet (Earth) in the settlement known as Edmonton in the WrightBuilt.ca workshop. The WB designation identifies the droid as a BB design manufactured by the WrightBuilt company.

In the fall of 2024, I was surprised when I attended Edmonton’s Comic Con (Fan Expo) to see someone could build a ‘real’ BB8 droid. I had see R2D2 and other droids made, and their movement seemed simple to me. To get a rolling ball to move in the right direction and controlled speed while keeping the dome head at the top - was something I had never considered possible. I assumed it was all special effects in the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens or you had to work at Industrial Light and Magic like Grant Imahara. Not only was the BB8 rolling around the Expo Centre here in Edmonton built by a regular person, but that person lived only a few miles away. If he could make a BB8, I figured I could too.

I was given the advice to check out the BB8 builder sites and join some of the droid building groups on Facebook. I also started collecting information on the movie version of BB8 and the remote control version built after the movie was made. (The movies used a puppet version.)

Step One:

The first step I did was to collect as much information as possible. I did not know where to start or how I would make my WB8.

Step Two:

In hindsight, I would not recommend a BB8 droid as the first thing you 3D print. But, luckily Alexander was able to help me out and get the body and dome of my droid printed.

Step Three:

I wanted to be able to see how I could control the movement and then I would go back and add the mechanical internals to the droid.

I picked Arduino boards to be the ‘brains’ and XBee to be the ‘communications’.

Step Four: (current work)

Making the droid move.

Step Five: (to do)

Painting and finishing - I wanted to make sure my WB8 moved and operated how I wanted before I spent time and resources on making the droid look like part of Star Wars. The only decision I made was to used White as the main color, with Red (color of X-wing squadron) and Blue (color of R2D2) as the accents.

Inspirational Image from Star Wars production drawings on display at Disney World Florida.

For further information:

While I am building my version of BB8, I will be documenting what I have learned to share with you. If you would like to know anything about my process or progress, please contact me; form or email - info.wrightbuilt.ca@gmail.com