Celebrate Star Wars Days with Some of Its Best Tech
What was better than celebrating May the Fourth? Revenge of the Fifth! For those that missed both, there’s still an opportunity to celebrate all things Star Wars through the eyes of the engineers and makers who got the opportunity to have their projects cast into the spotlight. From lightsabers to droids, these projects manage to capture the essence of a galaxy far, far away, with imaginative and creative skills to bring some of that technology home to this planet for all to enjoy.
It’s also essential to reflect on why May the Fourth and Revenge of the Fifth became unofficial holidays. The love of a science-fiction universe and the characters that inhabit it have brought millions together over the decades. Both young and old have taken inspiration from that galaxy far, far away to create incredible projects that defy boundaries and allow others to experience the joy and the magic that went into their creation. That is the power of Star Wars.
With that said, we included 10 entries for this year’s celebration in 2024, each ranging in different complexities and difficulties but still retaining what makes the Star Wars universe so unique:
- Sky Elements’ Star Wars Drone Show
- Hacksmith Industries Plasma Proto Lightsaber
- AsciiWars—Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
- BD-1: Vision-AI-Powered Droid
- NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano-Powered Pit Droid
- Star Wars Pathfinder Field Terminal
- Star Wars Scomp Link USB Port
- Star Wars Droid Translator Helmets
- Star Wars-Inspired DIY Volumetric Display
- Robotic Baby Yoda (Grogu)
About the Author
Cabe Atwell
Technology Editor, Electronic Design
Cabe is a Technology Editor for Electronic Design.
Engineer, Machinist, Maker, Writer. A graduate Electrical Engineer actively plying his expertise in the industry and at his company, Gunhead. When not designing/building, he creates a steady torrent of projects and content in the media world. Many of his projects and articles are online at element14 & SolidSmack, industry-focused work at EETimes & EDN, and offbeat articles at Make Magazine. Currently, you can find him hosting webinars and contributing to Electronic Design and Machine Design.
Cabe is an electrical engineer, design consultant and author with 25 years’ experience. His most recent book is “Essential 555 IC: Design, Configure, and Create Clever Circuits”
Cabe writes the Engineering on Friday blog on Electronic Design.