Guide

Getting started

Tips you may find useful on your droid builder journey.

Reference material

  • For all new builders, register to the following website. 

https://astromech.net/

  • Once registered, check out all the info in the new members page.

Decision points

After visiting the links above, it will become very clear the sheer scope of the project you are thinking about undertaking. The objective of this guide is to help new builders simplify scoping the project.
To get started in your planning, you may want to ask yourself the following questions to determine your development path.

Why do I want to build a droid?

Answering this question can help you decide the many trade-offs in the development process. 

What scale do I want it to be?

This will effect cost, development time, storage, transport and capability.

What do I want the droid to be able to do?

It is a good idea to list all the functions you would like your droid to be able to perform and then rank them in importance. This will provide a basis for order of development and trade-offs in time or cost.

How long do I want to take to build it?

Do you have a particular timeframe needed? This may have a significant impact on the choice of cost, materials and functionality. In general, a standard R2-D2 build is made in the order of 1-2 years. If time is not a major consideration spreading the build over a longer period can help ease the burden of cost.

Where will I store the droid?

This may have an impact in the size and type of droid 2-leg vs 3-leg builds or combinations of both.

Will I need to transport it?

Think about how you will want to move the unit, stairs vehicles etc., this may have an effect on the type of build and materials. Aluminium builds may need to be more modular for piecewise transportation or simply use lighter materials.

How much am I willing to spend?

This is one of the most important decision points for many builders. The range of cost can be $1000 to >$20k (AUD) including the supporting equipment and material costs. 

 Planning the build

Now you have asked yourself these important questions you should be able to start developing your build strategy.

Tips

  • Go full aluminium. 
  • Start with the dome - if you don't finish the whole droid, at least you have an awesome piece that doesn't take up too much room. 
  • Many people try save money using wood or styrene, but in the end going aluminium in the end (its just better). So go aluminium from the start you will save time, money and effort.
  • Don't paint or glue anything without researching all the following steps.
  • Dry fit everything before you paint or glue.
  • Don't be afraid to mod things, the best part of building is you can redo something.

3D printing -  I have a bad feeling about this...

The thing you do before realising you should have gone full aluminium. If you don't believe me, at least consider the following points before buying a large volume 3D printer:

  • Most affordable printers will require modifications, a whole new hobby will need to be understood and committed to, before you will find much use.
  • The prints are slow and may fail after days of printing.
  • PLA is safe and easy to use, but is bio degradable and will warp if left in a car.
  • ABS and other more toxic materials are harder to print and require higher temperatures, enclosures sufficient ventilation.
  • if you can't have the print running all day every day, don't buy a large format printer.
  • Sound - if they are running all day every day the make a lot of noise, you will need to attenuate the sound.

  • Best sound attenuation is to layer elastic material (packing foam) under a concreate paver then rubber feet under the printer frame. Then build/buy an enclosure.
  • large volume 3D printers need a really large work bench and even more room. I had to custom make mine for the Creality CR 10 s5 I bought.

Last step, rethink your plan and go Full aluminium.

 3D printers are fine for prototyping things you later want to make in aluminium.