May the 4th Inspire You

Here at Hackster, we're nerds just like you. And like you, we appreciate a good Star Wars pun. In honor of May the 4th (Star Wars Day for the uninitiated), we've put together a list of some of the best Star Wars-themed projects from our community.

AsciiWars

The ASCII art trend may have died with the proliferation of meme image macros and emojis, but that doesn't make this project any less impressive. In a feat surely made possible by a high midi-chlorian count, someone made an entire ASCII reproduction of A New Hope. Frank then built a dedicated player for that, dubbed AsciiWars, using a Wemos D1 Mini ESP8266 board and a 2.2" LCD screen.

Robot Grogu

What's almost as good as having your own Baby Yoda? A robot Grogu. This was built by Manuel Ahumada, who started with an off-the-shelf toy and then added a 3D-printed skeleton with motors driven by a Raspberry Pi, with an Arduino Pro Micro to monitor the sensors. Using a camera, it can track its owner to follow them around.

Mandalorian-Style Tracker

Even Mandalorians lose their keys, which is why the MVRK design team built this tracker inspired by the TV show. It contains a DFRobot Firebeetle ESP32 board and takes advantage of the integrated Bluetooth adapter to help find nearby objects. Those objects must contain Bluetooth adapters of their own. The tracker monitors an object's Bluetooth signal strength to indicate when the user gets closer to its location.

Functional B2EMO Robot

While it may not have the charisma of R2-D2 or the unrelenting rizz of C-3PO, B2EMO is still pretty cool. The Star Wars prop team actually built a functional robot for some scenes, but they had a huge budget to work with. James Bruton managed to replicate that — or at least its movement — on a modest budget with 3D-printed parts.

Razor Crest Control Lever

Every good space hero needs a cool ship, and Din Djarin got the Razor Crest. ZapWizard not only designed a replica prop of its control lever, but made it functional for use in video games like Star Wars: Squadrons. At its heart is an Adafruit Trinket M0 board, which acts like a standard game pad when plugged into a PC.

A Toaster That Plays 'The Imperial March'

Few film score pieces are more impactful than "The Imperial March." That made it a great choice to play by a toaster with toothbrush friends. YouTube's Device Orchestra turns all kinds of appliances into instruments by controlling the speeds of their motors, and therefore the frequency of the sound they produce. But this was clearly their magnum opus.

Star Wars Weather Station

Kutluhan Aktar's project manages to cram in several different Star Wars references into a functional device. It acts as both a remote lamp and a weather station. An Arduino Nano 33 BLE controls the functions, which are accessible through an accompanying Android app. It uses several sensors to monitor the local conditions and displays the results on a 2.9" ePaper module.

Talking R2-D2 PCB Art

Did you know that there is a name for R2-D2's language? Apparently it is called "astromech" (after the droids) and Arnov Sharma's PCB art R2-D2 can speak it — or at least something that sounds like it. It uses an ATtiny85 microcontroller to sound a buzzer at random intervals, which sounds like astromech to untrained human ears.

A Real Mandalorian Jetpack

The OG Mandalorian, Boba Fett, burned himself into our imaginations and toy collections with his super dope jetpack. And while jetpacks are mostly science-fiction, they do have some basis in reality. While it is incredibly difficult to build a practical (much less safe) jetpack, The Hacksmith got pretty close. He constructed a wearable, full size jetpack with functioning jet motors. They don't provide enough thrust to get anyone off the ground and would burn the user's legs to a crisp if they could, but this is still the ultimate cosplay prop.

Freeform Tydirium

Almost every spaceship in the Star Wars universe has an imaginative design, but the Tydirium gets bonus points for its neat folding wings. Paul Gallagher created his own miniature freeform sculpture of the Tydirium that lights up, mimicking the on-screen strobe pattern.

Millennium Falcon Badge

It is possible to complete a "run" in less than 12 parsecs (a unit of distance), if said run is a test of a certain of maneuvers or something. With that out of the way, we can all admire this Millennium Falcon badge without pedantry. It has a beautiful PCB complete with lights controlled by a NodeMCU ESP8266 board, as well as an OLED screen for user interaction.

Rebel Pathfinder Cyberdeck

The Pathfinders are a bit like the special operatives of the Rebel forces and they need computers like anyone else. Maz_Baz assembled their own cyberdeck modeled after a Rebel Pathfinder field terminal. This is a functional computer, thanks to the inclusion of a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B and a Raspberry Pi 4 touchscreen LCD. Those fit into a 3D-printed enclosure that gets the aesthetics just right.

Using the Force to Control a TV

Of everything invented for the Star Wars universe, the Force is probably the most memorable. Space Magic is never not cool. Dissatisfied by their inability to wield the Force, wermy came up with this gesture-controlled TV remote. It uses an Adafruit Feather M4 Express board and an APDS9960 gesture sensor, and emits the correct codes for the TV (or any device with an infrared receiver) from an IR LED.

Space Furniture

Like most sci-fi from its era, the original Star Wars films contained sets full of nonsense consoles that looked interesting but didn't do anything. Bob Clagett wanted to bring the franchise into his home and did so by following the same strategy as '70s prop makers: he crafted a frame out of wood, painted it black, added a screen, and slapped on a bunch of controls that look like they could serve a purpose. The result is spot-on and provides exactly as much functionality as the real movie props.

Tiny Star Wars Arcade Takes Tiny Quarters

Atari released a Star Wars arcade in 1983 and it is very desirable among collectors, which means that it is also very expensive. To save some cash, Jamie McShan built his own 1:4 scale version of the arcade cabinet using a Raspberry Pi and Arduino Leonardo. Not only is pint-sized arcade playable, but it even accepts itty bitty quarters.

Animatronic BD-1 Companion Bot

Our own Alex Glow is largely responsible for popularizing companion bots within the maker community, but Dave Darko took things to another level with his BD-1. It looks just like the real deal and works a lot like it, too. Using a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, an Arduino Leonardo, and an Arduino Nano Every, it can move around, speak, light up LEDs, launch a prop med pack, and even project video onto nearby surfaces.

Gorgeous Millennium Falcon Coffee Table

This project is a bit less interactive than the others on the list, but gets points for being something that normie spouses might allow into their living rooms. It is a coffee table with a slab of glass covering a docking bay diorama with a Millennium Falcon model parked inside. A Teensy 3.5 controls various LEDs and sound effects to ensure that visitors never overlook the table.

3D-Printed BB-8

BB-8 may have delighted audiences with its jaunty personality, but it perplexed engineers with its unusual drive system. Ilge Ipek wasn't satisfied with theorizing about its operation, so they designed and 3D-printed their own working BB-8. It can roll around like the onscreen bot and magnets will keep its head on top. An Arduino Nano controls the internal motors and a Bluetooth module lets the user pilot the droid via a smartphone app.

Imperial Mouse Droid Tells Jokes

For the final project on this list, lets go retro with a fan favorite: the MSE-6 "Mouse" droid. It may have been little more than an afterthought during production, but it warmed our hearts. Ali created their own Mouse droid, but decided that replicating the original prop was too easy. So they introduced a new feature: a side door that pops open to reveal an LED matrix that shows scrolling jokes. An Arduino Uno controls the motors and the LED matrix, and it has an HC-05 Bluetooth module that lets Ali choose when to open the door and what jokes to display from a smartphone.