This Adorable Robot Is a Real Movie Star
Davis DeWitt of Backhaul Studios created a functional robot that is an important character in the movie The Lightning Code.
For many of us in the maker community, prop design for film, TV, and theater seems like a dream job. All the fun of custom projects, without pesky concerns like manufacturability at scale, reliability, or documentation. But Davis DeWitt of Backhaul Studios was charged with building more than just a simple prop, he was asked to create a functional robot that would be an important character in the movie The Lightning Code. Newt is the absolutely adorable result.
Most film and TV props don’t actually need to work — they just need to look like they do and movie magic will take care of the rest. It isn’t like those workstations on the bridge of the Enterprise control anything; they’re just shells covered in blinking lights.
Newt is different. As DeWitt describes it, Newt is the “plucky sidekick character” in The Lightning Code and is actually a real robot. Rather than relying on CGI or camera trickery, director Kali Bailey chose to simply film Newt like any other character. That meant it needed to operate in real time under the control of an operator — DeWitt himself.
DeWitt built Newt three years ago, but The Lightning Code’s release date is finally nearing and so DeWitt was able to share the project. It started with a lot of brainstorming with Bailey and other key members of the crew, and then progressed through a series of sketches created by a concept artist. Once they had nailed down Newt’s appearance, DeWitt was able to begin working his magic.
His first step was turning the concept sketches into 3D models in CAD. Once he had a set of models he was happy with, he 3D-printed those. What followed was a painstaking sanding, priming, and painting process, to hide Newt’s 3D-printed nature and make it silver screen-ready. DeWitt also put a great deal of effort into weathering Newt’s panels, so it looks like a robot that has existed in the real world for quite some time.
Because Newt needed to move around during filming, DeWitt gave it RC capabilities. A RadioLink AT10ii RC transmitter sends control commands to an Arduino Nano R3 development board through a RadioLink R12DS RC receiver. The Arduino then, in turn, spins the wheel motors through an L298N driver and activates a bright projector light through relay.
The head’s pan/tilt servo motors receive control directly through the radio receiver. Power comes from a hobby LiPo battery pack and there is a buck converter to bring voltages down to the proper levels for the components. To top it all off, DeWitt also built a second, less feature-packed, robot to act as Newt’s stunt double.
We get a look at some key scenes from The Lightning Code near the end of DeWitt’s video and we have to say that Newt appears to have been a big success. Both DeWitt’s construction and his operation really make the character feel lovable.