3D Printed R2-D2 Build

What Star Wars fan does not what a full size R2-D2?

If you are an astromech builder please let me know. I would love to check out / link to your project.

Resources

Mr Baddeley Astromech 3D Printing
Astromech Forum

Parts

Zortax M200 3D Printer
Zortrax ABS Filament
Hatchbox ABS Filament
Misc Clamps
E6000 Adhesive
Marcduino – Controls the animatronics of an R2 dome
XBee WiFi Module S6B w/ RP-SMA Connector for Marcduino

Things to Figure Out

Lazy Susan – 450mm (Granite Earth ?)
Leg Bearings –
Dome Lighting – Teeces Dome Lights
Dome Sound – Sparkfun MP3 Trigger WIG-13720
Dome Servos – 16x SG90S
Dome Motor – Geared 12V Motor with 200RPM (Pittman motor style).
Drive Motor Controller – Sabertooth controller with 2x 32A motors
Drive Motors – 2x E-Scooter motors with 150W at 24V
Body Servos Utility Arms – 4x MG996R
Body Servos Panel and Doors – 6x SG90S
Much more coming soon…

Printer Settings

Zortrax sales, and recommends using, their own line of filament, however in order to save cost I decided to use another brand. After some trial and error I was able to get Hatchbox ABS to print without any issues.

Nozzle diameter: 0.4 mm
Layer: 0.14 mm
Infill: 10% - 50% depending on the part
Fan speed: 10%
Surface layers Top: 7
Surface layers Bottom: 4
Smart bridges: Yes
First layer Density: 100%
First layer Print speed: 100%
First layer Flow ratio: 100%
First layer gap: 0.23 mm
Raft Enabled: Yes
Raft layers: 6
Platform-raft gap: 0.20 mm
Extruder flow ratio: +0%
Top layer infill (%): 100
Bottom layer infill (%): 100
Extrusion temp.: 235
Platform temp.: 80
Retraction speed: 36
Retraction distance: 0.8
Gap XY: 0.31

I also made and used ABS juice, ran auto calibration after every print, and clean / checked the printer very often.

Building Blog

August 19, 2019

August 29, 2019

Sept 3rd, 2019

Started to mock up the dome and check fitting. Needs some work.

Sept 5th, 2019

More printing….

Sept 7th, 2019

Ordered a Marcduino controller. Still need to get all the other bits (IE Power, Wireless, MP3 Trigger, etc.)

May 7th, 2020

A lot more printing… Mocking up main body.

May 26th, 2020

More body mock up and started to smooth out the dome.

June 10th, 2020

Ordered the XBee WiFi Module S6B w/ RP-SMA Connector adapter for the Marcduino.

June 15th, 2020

Starting to glue the base and dome rings. Primed dome (still needs more work) A lot of parts still left to print…

June 20th, 2020

Gluing together the first ring. Started printing the data port and utility arm.

June 28th, 2020

Printing the left leg and gluing the second ring.

July 12th, 2020

Main body assembly and test fitting. Starting to look like R2 🙂