Wall-E, BB-8, Grogu and more IRL!

Robotics

Local Miami Maker David Alvarez showcases some of his finished robotics projects! Including fully functioning 1:1 scale fan favorite characters like Wall-E, BB-8, Grogu (Baby Yoda), Pit Droids and much more! Come interact with these lovable robots, all while learning what goes into bringing these amazing characters to life! Learn about engineering, building, painting and robotics!

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David Alvarez

David Alvarez is a local droid builder. What started as wanting to make a 1:1 scale BB-8 in 2016, lead to learning various things about electronics, RC, and mechanical engineering. Now and he has made many other robotic characters. The most popular one being a fully functional Wall-E. With some of his Wall-E videos raking up millions of views it's easy to see why he is a fan favorite. David now enjoys showing these amazing characters to others as an entry point to talk about robotics. He now uses these robots to get kids excited about robotics and other STEM programs.

More Maker Info

https://www.youtube.com/trickproductionstv

More Event Info

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More Project Info

https://www.youtube.com/trickproductionstv

What inspired you to make this project?
My love for movies and movie props eventually lead to me learning how to make these working robotic characters.

What are some of the challenges you have encountered and how did you address them?
Each robot poses different challenges. But the common thread is that with any of them, there is no blueprint or manual, so there is a lot of engineering that has to happen. And what separates the kind of robots that I make vs say STEM robots is that for a STEM competition there is a task that needs to happen, then the robot is made to do that task. With the robots I make, they start with a predetermined look, size, and personality. I then have to figure out how all the mechanical engineering will work, but within the constraints of the form factor that exists already.