While it is fun to get toys that look like your favorite science fiction props, it is less fun when the electronics in them don’t measure up to the physical design. [Steve Gibbs] took a Hasbro R2D2 toy robot and decided to give it a brain upgrade along with enhanced sensors. You can see a video of the robot doing its thing and some build details below.
In this case, the toy from Hasbro was not working at all, so [Steve] saved it from the dumpster. Instead of a repair, he decided to just gut it and rebuild it with modern electronics. The ultrasonic sensor on the forward toe is a dead giveaway.
The robot responds to voice commands better than the original and can play sound effects and clips from Star Wars. You can also control the robot with a phone app. The new or upgraded sensors include microphones, a PIR sensor, a photoresistor to sense light, a smoke and CO2 sensor, a computer vision camera, and, of course, the ultrasonic range finder.
Some motors and the original speaker are in use, but R2 now sports additional LEDs and servos. All the extras required some surgery on the plastic body. Instead of regular batteries, the ‘bot now uses a LiPo battery, so the old battery compartment was cut out to make more room.
