Little robot toy

[Bealman]

Dunno exactly what's happening in the rest of the world, but that new Star Wars thingy opens here in my hometown at 12.01am on Thursday morning. I'll wait til it comes out on DVD and then I'll ignore it.

However, from what I see on YouTube,  there's some little robot running around in it which is basically  a ball with a head. I believe it goes by the name of Sphero (sigh). I hate this movie already.

Anyway, the point of this post is that when I was in town today, a department store was selling a palm sized model of the thing which can be controlled by an Android phone, as well as doing all sorts of other stuff.

I can't figure out how it works!!! Here's this ball rolling around on the table while the head stays on top all the time!

Does anyone know what I'm talking about here? 'Cos I'd love to know how it works!

It's orange and white, if that helps 

[Ditape]

If you go to bbc iplayer and watch this weeks click it shows how someone has made a working model of this robot thingy so I would imagine the toy you saw works in a similar way.

[Sprintex]

Not sure BBC iplayer is available in Australia is it?


Paul

[Malc]

I suspect that the electronics will be in the head and there will be a gyro to keep the head on top and a couple of wheels to drive the ball round. Pretty impressive though.

[scotsoft]

When I saw that little droid, I wanted one, I just love gadgets like this 

Cheers John.

[bridgiesimon]

The droid is called BB8 and is already a star in its own right!! The radio controlled one that has been released is operated via an app from your phone/ipad etc and looks AWESOME!!!

I am in the group of people feeling like I am 7 again - very excited!!!

best wishes and Merry Christmas

Simon

[Adam1701D]

Already got my tickets booked for Thursday...

47 years old and feeling 8 again! 

[Bealman]

Not sure BBC iplayer is available in Australia is it?


Paul

No

George 

[cjdodd]

I think you mean a BB-8

You can buy one here

http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/gift-tech-stuff/bb-8tm-app-enabled-droidtm-by-sphero/11143044.html

[Bealman]

Yep, that's the one.... a ball with a head.

[Railwaygun]

The Bluebird-8 toy mechanism is explained here

http://www.polygon.com/2015/9/7/9272595/how-bb8-works

And the "real" thing is here

http://www.howbb8works.com

[Bealman]

Thanks for that, not that I'm really much wiser. I really enjoyed the original three stars wars movies, but the later ones did not do a lot for me, hence my disinterest in the new one.

The toy looks pretty cool, though.

[d-a-n]

I hate this movie already.

Don't give in to hate. That leads to the Dark Side.

[Bealman]

 

[Zogbert Splod]

Ain't nothin' wrong with the dark side, we have tea and biscuits!