RexP1 - ROS2 Astro Droid

Back in January 2025, I kicked off a new project: designing a reimagined astro droid inspired by the legendary R2-D2. Rather than creating a replica, I’ve borrowed key design cues from the Star Wars universe and set out to build something uniquely mine—a droid powered by the Robot Operating System (ROS).

Say hello to RexP1. Standing just 65cm tall, he’s about half the height of R2-D2. His frame is a hybrid of 3D-printed components wrapped around a skeleton of 2020 aluminium extrusion. At his core is a Raspberry Pi 5, supported by several RP2040Zero microcontrollers handling the low-level electronics, sensor inputs, and motor control. It’s a true distributed system—and a rewarding challenge to build.

My long-term vision? RexP1 will one day be able to map his environment, navigate autonomously, and make decisions on his own. Right now—six months in—we’ve got a working body, and I can drive him around like a remote-controlled rover.

Where to follow the journey:

• 💻 All the code, PCB designs, and STL models live on GitHub: AstroDroid2025
• 📝 Project commentary will appear on the blog
• 📺 The most up-to-date progress and design insights are on my YouTube channel

You’ll find two playlists:

• “RexP1: Star Wars Inspired Astro Droid”– Deep dives into the design and concepts
• “Astro Droid: Inside Builder’s Story”– Shorter #insider updates, more like casual dev diaries capturing in-the-moment progress.

The project continues to adapt and I will keep you posted. Currently moving to a new set of Repo and first release at https://github.com/drjonea The primary repo "RexP1" is available to sponsors of the project, though the subsystems included the Drive Weel and Neck control are fully open sourced.