R2-D2 is possibly the most famous robot ever created. He was first used for the movie “Star Wars: A New Hope” in 1977. In using the robot during filming for the first movie, they used two different versions. One version of the RD-D2 robot was remote controlled. This version was used just for scenes in which the robot moved around. The other version of the R2-D2 robot was just a standing unit. Inside this standing version, actor Kenny Baker had controls so that he was able to manipulate lights and appendages on the outside of the robot and could also control very limited movement. The purpose of the standing version was to allow Kenny Baker to be able to imbue a sense of personality into the robot.
The height of this robot was 3 feet 2 inches. Rather than using words, this robot used beeps and whistles to communicate. Its “voice” was created by Ben Burtt using an ARP 2600 analog music synthesizer. For movement the robot had 2 standard legs that rolled and also had a 3rd retractable one if needed.
Over the years the technology used for making R2-D2 improved. By “Return of the Jedi”, improvements in the remote control version of the robot lead to it receiving more time on screen than the version controlled by Kenny Baker. In episodes 1-2 of the Star Wars saga, computer graphics were used to make R2-D2 appear on screen in addition to the remote controlled and actor controlled versions. By episode 3, actor Kenny Baker was no longer used in controlling the robot.
For possible improvements on the robot, I would think the only possibilities would be to have it actually speak rather than just beep and have it do things like jet around in the air in real life rather than just digitally. I think this robot contributed to giving robots in future movies personality. The fact that so many people like the robot even though it only moves and beeps while it does not actually talk is very impressive. Because of its impact on people, the R2-D2 robot was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in 2003.
Sources:
http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/r2d2/?id=bts
http://www.answers.com/topic/r2-d2
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/R2-D2
http://www.robothalloffame.org/r2d2.html
1 comment:
I LOVE R2-D2! I grew up watching the original Star Wars trilogy. You're right, he does have a lot of personality and he probably did influence robots in movies from now on. I feel like he acted as the comic relief in the Star Wars movies. The actor that played him must have faced some technical difficulties. I wrote a blog on C-3PO and I think both of them had a great impact on not only robots in movies, but robots in general. It seems like at the time, filming droids like this was a revolutionary idea.
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