element14 Community
element14 Community
    Register Log In
  • Site
  • Search
  • Log In Register
  • Community Hub
    Community Hub
    • What's New on element14
    • Feedback and Support
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Personal Blogs
    • Members Area
    • Achievement Levels
  • Learn
    Learn
    • Ask an Expert
    • eBooks
    • element14 presents
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Spotlight
    • STEM Academy
    • Webinars, Training and Events
    • Learning Groups
  • Technologies
    Technologies
    • 3D Printing
    • FPGA
    • Industrial Automation
    • Internet of Things
    • Power & Energy
    • Sensors
    • Technology Groups
  • Challenges & Projects
    Challenges & Projects
    • Design Challenges
    • element14 presents Projects
    • Project14
    • Arduino Projects
    • Raspberry Pi Projects
    • Project Groups
  • Products
    Products
    • Arduino
    • Avnet & Tria Boards Community
    • Dev Tools
    • Manufacturers
    • Multicomp Pro
    • Product Groups
    • Raspberry Pi
    • RoadTests & Reviews
  • About Us
    About the element14 Community
  • Store
    Store
    • Visit Your Store
    • Choose another store...
      • Europe
      •  Austria (German)
      •  Belgium (Dutch, French)
      •  Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
      •  Czech Republic (Czech)
      •  Denmark (Danish)
      •  Estonia (Estonian)
      •  Finland (Finnish)
      •  France (French)
      •  Germany (German)
      •  Hungary (Hungarian)
      •  Ireland
      •  Israel
      •  Italy (Italian)
      •  Latvia (Latvian)
      •  
      •  Lithuania (Lithuanian)
      •  Netherlands (Dutch)
      •  Norway (Norwegian)
      •  Poland (Polish)
      •  Portugal (Portuguese)
      •  Romania (Romanian)
      •  Russia (Russian)
      •  Slovakia (Slovak)
      •  Slovenia (Slovenian)
      •  Spain (Spanish)
      •  Sweden (Swedish)
      •  Switzerland(German, French)
      •  Turkey (Turkish)
      •  United Kingdom
      • Asia Pacific
      •  Australia
      •  China
      •  Hong Kong
      •  India
      •  Japan
      •  Korea (Korean)
      •  Malaysia
      •  New Zealand
      •  Philippines
      •  Singapore
      •  Taiwan
      •  Thailand (Thai)
      •  Vietnam
      • Americas
      •  Brazil (Portuguese)
      •  Canada
      •  Mexico (Spanish)
      •  United States
      Can't find the country/region you're looking for? Visit our export site or find a local distributor.
  • Translate
  • Profile
  • Settings
Raspberry Pi Projects
  • Products
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Raspberry Pi Projects
  • More
  • Cancel
Raspberry Pi Projects
Blog R2D2 Hasbro toy upgrade
  • Blog
  • Documents
  • Events
  • Polls
  • Members
  • Mentions
  • Sub-Groups
  • Tags
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
Join Raspberry Pi Projects to participate - click to join for free!
  • Share
  • More
  • Cancel
Group Actions
  • Group RSS
  • More
  • Cancel
Engagement
  • Author Author: bobosaurous
  • Date Created: 9 Feb 2025 8:11 PM Date Created
  • Views 3549 views
  • Likes 7 likes
  • Comments 22 comments
  • rpibeginner
  • raspberrypi
  • raspberry_pi_projects
Related
Recommended

R2D2 Hasbro toy upgrade

bobosaurous
bobosaurous
9 Feb 2025

 Hey everyone! I’m very new here and just wanted to introduce myself and share a project I'm working on. The idea came to me when I was digging through storage and found my old Hasbro interactive R2-D2 from 2002, sitting there covered in dust and looking lifeless. I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. This toy brought me a lot of joy as a kid, allowing me to pretend I was Luke Skywalker, off on adventures with my loyal companion, R2. So, I grabbed R2 and took him home.

  The first thing I did was take R2 apart. I stripped out his old brain and circuit boards but left the motors intact. I bought two Raspberry Pi units: a Raspberry Pi 4B with 2GB of RAM to control his wheels, head, sound, and any other physical features I might want to add, like an arm or two. The second unit is a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB of RAM, which will serve as R2's main brain. I have most of the parts ordered besides the PI HAT+. a little pricey but man, wouldn't it be worth it?!

here are some pics of my project so farimageimage

  • Sign in to reply

Top Comments

  • rsc
    rsc over 1 year ago +1
    R2 reminds me of a robot a friend of mine built in 1984 with a big bucket full of batteries and three 12VDC motorized wheels. He had an RCA video camcorder on top with a full duplex 27mhz transmitter so…
  • robogary
    robogary over 1 year ago +1
    very cool. Alot could be done with that much brainpower. Are you adding cameras with some type of object recognition ? Manual cellphone controls via bluetooth or wifi, or old fashioned FHSS radio control…
  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave over 1 year ago in reply to bobosaurous +1
    Just need to get the holographic projector sorted first
  • RileyMcD6
    RileyMcD6 20 days ago

    Wow this is awesome. I have very fond memories of this little R2 unit. Actually I gotta ask mom what became of him lol.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • bobosaurous
    bobosaurous 7 months ago in reply to someguy

    I have my ways haha I for sure can show ya how

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • someguy
    someguy 7 months ago in reply to bobosaurous

    Wow! I expected "ah its still on my workbench" not "R2D2 has the potential to develop into skynet". Dude that's awesome! You should start blogging the process. I was just gonna ask if there's an easy way to get the motor wiring into a raspberry pi, but it sounds like he's gutted? 

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • bobosaurous
    bobosaurous 7 months ago in reply to bobosaurous

    Also not saying I have the brainpower haha just saying it will require it.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • bobosaurous
    bobosaurous 7 months ago in reply to someguy

    Dude so glad to see a comment on this ive had a lot going on in my personal life lately so I haven't posted but r2 has developed into a bigger project. 

    I am currently saving up to buy a 3090 ti so I can run him remotely off a server through my home network.

    This will entail quite bit more coding and wiring and brainpower on my part but it will be worth it in the long run.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
>
element14 Community

element14 is the first online community specifically for engineers. Connect with your peers and get expert answers to your questions.

  • Members
  • Learn
  • Technologies
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Products
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Feedback & Support
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal and Copyright Notices
  • Sitemap
  • Cookies

An Avnet Company © 2026 Premier Farnell Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Premier Farnell Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no 00876412), registered office: Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds LS12 2NE.

ICP 备案号 10220084.

Follow element14

  • X
  • Facebook
  • linkedin
  • YouTube