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Innovation

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

By studio.johnlee-gmail November 28, 2007, 8:26 AM PST

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Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2 arrives!

R2 arrives!

By John Lee

We’re going to crack open this surprisingly functional toy robot and make darn sure that Kenny Baker isn’t trapped in there.

Hasbro’s interactive R2-D2 comes in this plastic cylinder that stands about 18″ tall.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2's back

R2's back

The back of Artoo’s plastic package lists his many interactive features and is sure to get your inner geek eager to whip out your credit card.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2's best side

R2's best side

It’s highly likely that R2 was shipped in a see-through package so that his detailed modeling could be seen up-front.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Out of the box, continued

Out of the box, continued

Shiny and sharp, this R2 replica could easily be mistaken for the real thing if he were photographed without a reference for his size.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Hear No Evil, See No Evil

Hear No Evil, See No Evil

The instruction manual tells me that this is the location of R2’s navigation sensors (sonar that “sees” objects) and infrared location sensor (for detecting moving people)

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Speak No Evil

Speak No Evil

Right under R2’s dome, I can find the voice recognition module, and the center of his body contains the speaker for all of the sound effects.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Artoo in profile

Artoo in profile

Artoo’s silhouette is a perfect match for his movie counterparts’. If only the center leg were retractable…

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2's backside (or lack thereof...)

R2's backside (or lack thereof...)

No real features here, except for the battery hatch and the master on/off switch.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

How R2 gets around

How R2 gets around

The two legs house a pair of sturdy wheels, while the third leg features a large trackball. It seems strange, but it works perfectly as R2 had no problem navigating my thick home carpeting.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Switch on!

Switch on!

Turning R2 on via a small switch under the battery hatch, I have to wait for him to warm up for about 30 seconds. His LED light flashes between red and blue while he does this. rn

rnOnce he’s running, his light will stay a steady blue if he is in a good mood, or turn red if he is angry or sad.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Stay, R2, stay!

Stay, R2, stay!

When R2 boots up, this button on the front is automatically activated. When it is red, he will not move, a good feature for when he is near stairs (he doesn’t recognize them) or on a table for a photo shoot.

R2’s a temperamental fella. Whenever I picked him up or turned him while he was on and the Wheel Lock button was activated, he let me know that he didn’t like it!

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

R2’s holoplayer turns on or off whenever you give the voice command “Light Beam.”rn

rnIf you give the voice command “Play Message,” you get a partial playback of Princess Leia’s plea for help from Episode IV.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Who could use a cool one?

Who could use a cool one?

R2 comes with, of all things, a beverage holder. Against all conventional wisdom, I found nothing in the instruction manual that warned against letting R2 run around with a cup full of liquid.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Cracking Open R2

Cracking Open R2

Starting with the obvious, I unscrew the back plate that houses the batteries. Four “D” batteries power the motor.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Battery bonanza

Battery bonanza

Once the “D” batteries are removed, I find slots for four additional “AA” batteries, which power the sensors, LEDs, and speaker.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Battery bonanza, continued

Battery bonanza, continued

Yes sir, that is 4 “D” and 4 “AA” batteries to power one R2-D2. Good thing I have a Costco membership.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

The first screw of many

The first screw of many

After the battery cover is out of the way, I quickly spot a screw in R2’s right back shoulder. It comes out with no difficulty.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Two more screws

Two more screws

I then locate two more sets of screws midway down R2’s back and at the bottom of his body. These too come out quickly.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2 folds like a card table

R2 folds like a card table

Once all six back screws are removed, Artoo pops open and collapses easily — almost too easily! It’s a little surprising.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Strung along

Strung along

Although R2 is nearly wide open, all five pieces of him — head, front half, back half and both legs — are solidly connected with electronic wires. He’s like a tangled marionette.

rnI can’t get the parts to spread very far apart on the table while they are all strung together, so I look for ways to safely disconnect some of them. The left leg is a good place to start.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Where's Chewie when you need him?

Where's Chewie when you need him?

No dice. Unscrewing the connecting plate on the upper leg just shows me how expertly the wires are attached.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

This might help

This might help

The circuit board attached to his front half looks like it would yield a little wiggle room if I can unseat it.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

This might help, continued

This might help, continued

These four screws should come out easily enough.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Pop!

Pop!

The four screws come out easy-peasy and I have a little more room to operate… but not much.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Hmm...

Hmm...

Not sure what these two brackets are for on R2’s back half, but they look as if they’ll come out easy, so I’ll have at ’em.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Getting nowhere fast

Getting nowhere fast

Turns out the brackets just hold the “AA” batteries in place on the outside of the unit. The circuitry at the bottom is for the main power switch. Nothing more to see here.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2's voice box and brain

R2's voice box and brain

I turn to the front half of R2, where the manual says that the voice recognition module and speaker are seated. Unscrewing the four screws that join the housing to the body is no problem.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2's brain...sort of

R2's brain...sort of

The Voice recognition module looks a lot like a microphone.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

...and his voicebox.

...and his voicebox.

The speaker is simply…a speaker.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Artoo's head

Artoo's head

Time to see what’s inside R2’s head. Only two screws hold his head to his body, and like all the other screws, they come out easily.

However, his head remains firmly in place.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2's head, continued

R2's head, continued

Try as I might, I cannot muster the strength to get R2’s head separated from his body.

A quick Google search reveals that the head is held in place with a strong black adhesive, so all I can do is grab a screwdriver and use it as a lever and hope that I don’t crack anything.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

The never-ending saga of R2's head, part XIV

The never-ending saga of R2's head, part XIV

There are four screws inside the track that come out just as easy as every other screw in this poor little droid.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Cracking heads

Cracking heads

Separating the Dome from the track, we can see another circuit board wired to R2’s infrared and navigation sensors.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2's eye

R2's eye

Unscrewing the navigation sensor from the dome, I’m a little disappointed to discover that R2’s eye is just decorative, non-functional plastic.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

R2's navigation sensor

R2's navigation sensor

The “guts” behind the eye make up R2’s primary navigation system.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

More loose screws than Britney Spears

More loose screws than Britney Spears

Here’s R2 in a near-total state of disarray. I could cut a lot of wires from their boards, but I wouldn’t see anything new, and I’ve gotten too attached to my little friend.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

"No, no! THIS one goes there, THAT one goes there!"

"No, no! THIS one goes there, THAT one goes there!"

One hour later, and R2 is nearly back in one piece.

Cracking Open Hasbro’s R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

Kindly tell all the King's Horses and his men that we shall not require their services.

Kindly tell all the King's Horses and his men that we shall not require their services.

He’s back and he works! Nary a single piece missing, either.

rnAfter playing with R2 for a while, I highly recommend him. He’s very responsive and full of personality. It’s like having a dog that doesn’t need to be fed, but it won’t be able to save you if you’re ever trapped in a burning house.

rnJohn Lee is a consultant specializing in design and illustration and a freelance technical writer. You can visit his Web site at johnleestudio.com.

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John Lee is a consultant specializing in design and illustration and a freelance technical writer. You can visit his Web site at johnleestudio.com.
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