This really is the best of what the internet can be, right here! Identifying a problem, researching the solution, explaining it in a very-understandable way, and showing in detail how to do the fix. Thanks for taking the time to show us!
Very awesome. I like that you showed your whole process even though at the end you found a much easier solution. I followed your directions and got it modded in about 5 minutes and it works great. I couldn’t stand that you had to open it up to reset it every time and it should have released with this mod in the first place. I was lazy and used a small bit of hot glue to hold the pins in place but it works great. It’s a very neat little droid but I hope there are more mods to come to maybe help steering and the rocking.
I just did this. My daughter, who until the trip to Galaxy's Edge wouldn't even watch Star Wars, is now excited about it after we invested in a BB droid building experience (really, I just needed some time to make my own R). But her interest is waning and her disappointment rising due to the fact that her little hands have so much trouble opening BB. She's going to be so happy when she wakes up! And maybe NOW we'll get through ESB...And, yes, as a previous comment mentions, this is the best of what the internet could be SINCE UA-cam. It was better when you could just read these instructions. The video is awesome. It's also nearly 30 minutes. The Bentley directions would be maybe 3 paragraphs (min 7:30 - 7:34).
I did this mod. I am thankful that you shared this with everyone. The one thing I will say for those who might try this in the future is if you're using the app to control your BB unit it will disconnect when the unit is really rocking back and forth on a hard surface. I'm ok with this because it doesn't happen a lot.
Brilliant! Given how easy that fix is, it almost makes you wonder if the designers had intended to do something similar when creating the droids. Kinda wish they had. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this. I bought my son one on a whim on our last visit to Hollywood studios, and didn’t realize how annoying it is to have to open every time to wake the droid. This should be the default install with all boards. Modification was super easy, barely an inconvenience. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all.
I wasn’t brave enough to solder it but I did the the pressure fit. My kid is four and had trouble opening the ball to get to the on off button. Now he just flips it over to wake it up. Now he actually plays with it, which is awesome! Thanks for the mod and the video!
Soldered in the tilt switch and it works like a champ. Took all of five minutes and entertained my son while he eagerly watched his droid's "surgery." Thanks so much for figuring this out! One thing I wondered was if there was a 'startup delay' as the system restarted after a tilt switch trigger. The answer is that, at least for the remote control, there is no perceptible delay. (Presumably bluetooth connections wouldn't be as quick to reestablish, though I didn't test that.)
Worked great for me! I found a little mercury tilt switch to harvest from my box of electronics, taped it on for now because I've lost my soldering iron, lost three screws in the process... But my BB-8 unit doesn't need to be disassembled every time I want to chat with him, so I've got that going for me.
So excited to do this mod as soon as the switch comes in the mail. Our BB unit just shuts down entirely for whatever reason (even if our other two droids are interacting with it) and it's a colossal pain to have to open it up and turn it back on. While it's not really fixing the issue of it refusing to stay on and avoid the sleep mode even when interacting with the other droids, at least I don't have to open the thing up every single time.
Thanks much for this...did the mod today in a matter of minutes. I was headed down an overly complex path and this was perfect. I really love the BB unit, but without this mod or something similar its a paperweight. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for this mod - I just got a BB unit today and while it may be more of a stationary piece for my store desk, this is super helpful to turn it on and off when I have guests to interact with. :)
I just got back from making my own BB Droid, and with it being such a simple mod/fix, it makes me wonder why a tilt switch wasn't installed on the board to begin with or some other solution was implemented so it can turn back on without opening it. Thanks for this, I will be doing it to my droid asap.
I just got a BB unit from eBay, and remembered seeing this mod earlier. Now I'm wondering if there's another option, in using a reed switch to detect when the head is in place, so to reset all you'd have to do is remove and replace the head.
In my case I have the R2D2 but this look a great feature. Have you analyzed the possibility to create something to connect the droid directly to a power supply and recharge batteries?
Thank you! This worked.. had a minor freak out when it didn't for about 30mins until I realised it was the remote not working. Great hack.. wondering how else I can upgrade bb8 now!
I want to thank you for taking the time to share this with us. I am going to Disneyland in a few weeks and I have been searching the internet to try to figure out how to keep my Droid awake while at the park so it can interact with things as it should, and that brought me here. I have an R2 unit that I'll be carrying in an "Industrial Automation" backpack, and I don't want to constantly be having to reach in the peek hole down between his legs to cycle the power switch off and back on again. I don't want it to look like I'm molesting my Droid every time he powers off!😳🤭 So this is a great fix for that.☺ I wonder if just giving him a quick shake would work, or if he really needs to be turned upside down. What do you think? Thanks for the great content!👍
In the parks your droid will stay awake on its own. If a droid "sees" a location beacon, which are all over Galaxy's Edge, then they will stay awake for 6 hours from the point of the last location beacon they encounter. So in the park you're good, they will stay awake the whole time you're there. This mod is more for when you're back at home. A shake, instead of tipping it upside down, may work. It depends on how hard you shake it and the direction of the shaking. But once you get a feel for what shake method works, I think it'd work fine. Have a great trip!
@@Ruthsarian Thanks for the quick reply! That's great information to know. I.ve been obsessing over how I was going to keep him awake while at the park and all I could find was to cycle the power button off and on again. I figured Disney would have addressed this issue while at the park, but I couldn't find any information on it anywhere. One of the best kept secrets I guess. 🤷♂ I even wrote Disney for an answer but I'm still waiting for their response. I'm going to be getting a BB-8 unit soon so R2 has a buddy. Maybe while at the park! So I'll be incorporating your mod in that for sure. 👍Thanks for all your help. Your the best. 😎👌
that could happen. i tried to trigger the switch by reversing quickly, turning quickly, and running it into walls and having it keep going forward, getting the motivator to rotate nearly 90 degrees inside the shell, but I never go the switch to trigger through moving BB with just the remote. i can't say it won't happen, but i think under most circumstances it won't happen.
Another great video! I am thinking that a 4 pin socket header might be a good thing to solder in right there. You could securely push the tilt switch in, and unplug it if you ever wanted to mess with that header for other purposes. Then again, I'm not really sure it gives any real advantages over the method you used here. I haven't heard of anyone hacking on the SWIO port yet, and it's another part to buy if you don't have that stuff already (albeit pennies).
The connector footprint has a 1.25mm pitch, so something like these connectors would work: www.amazon.com/dp/B075Y97R7C/ The SWD port can be used to debug and reprogram the NRF51822. And there's an exploit that allows you to dump its firmware via the SWD port. See: www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/nrf51822-code-readout-protection-bypass-a-how-to/ blog.includesecurity.com/2015/11/firmware-dumping-technique-for-an-arm-cortex-m0-soc/ With this information and access to the SWD port, it's possible to obtain the firmware of the droid. You need a debugger of some kind to connect to the port; there are many options, look at OpenOCD's supported hardware page: openocd.org/doc/html/Debug-Adapter-Hardware.html Once the firmware is dumped, you can try reverse engineering it. There are tools available that will help automate that process (but there is a learning curve). I recommend Ghidra: ghidra-sre.org/ From there the possibilities are endless. For example you could modify the firmware to make a BB droid think it was an R-unit with blasters and have the accessory button on the remote produce blaster noises. Of course it's also possible to completely brick your droid, so any such hacking should be done carefully.
@@Ruthsarian awesome! I've got my head full of ideas since getting my BB droid a few weeks ago. This has led me down a long path of UA-cam videos, and I keep coming back to your videos. Thank you so much for these!
This really is the best of what the internet can be, right here! Identifying a problem, researching the solution, explaining it in a very-understandable way, and showing in detail how to do the fix. Thanks for taking the time to show us!
Very awesome. I like that you showed your whole process even though at the end you found a much easier solution.
I followed your directions and got it modded in about 5 minutes and it works great. I couldn’t stand that you had to open it up to reset it every time and it should have released with this mod in the first place.
I was lazy and used a small bit of hot glue to hold the pins in place but it works great.
It’s a very neat little droid but I hope there are more mods to come to maybe help steering and the rocking.
I just did this. My daughter, who until the trip to Galaxy's Edge wouldn't even watch Star Wars, is now excited about it after we invested in a BB droid building experience (really, I just needed some time to make my own R). But her interest is waning and her disappointment rising due to the fact that her little hands have so much trouble opening BB. She's going to be so happy when she wakes up! And maybe NOW we'll get through ESB...And, yes, as a previous comment mentions, this is the best of what the internet could be SINCE UA-cam. It was better when you could just read these instructions. The video is awesome. It's also nearly 30 minutes. The Bentley directions would be maybe 3 paragraphs (min 7:30 - 7:34).
I did this mod. I am thankful that you shared this with everyone. The one thing I will say for those who might try this in the future is if you're using the app to control your BB unit it will disconnect when the unit is really rocking back and forth on a hard surface. I'm ok with this because it doesn't happen a lot.
This is what I was wondering too, after seeing how much these things sometimes rock back and forth.
@@HeatRaver there's no problems with it on the carpet
Brilliant! Given how easy that fix is, it almost makes you wonder if the designers had intended to do something similar when creating the droids. Kinda wish they had. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this. I bought my son one on a whim on our last visit to Hollywood studios, and didn’t realize how annoying it is to have to open every time to wake the droid. This should be the default install with all boards. Modification was super easy, barely an inconvenience. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all.
I wasn’t brave enough to solder it but I did the the pressure fit. My kid is four and had trouble opening the ball to get to the on off button. Now he just flips it over to wake it up. Now he actually plays with it, which is awesome! Thanks for the mod and the video!
Soldered in the tilt switch and it works like a champ. Took all of five minutes and entertained my son while he eagerly watched his droid's "surgery." Thanks so much for figuring this out!
One thing I wondered was if there was a 'startup delay' as the system restarted after a tilt switch trigger. The answer is that, at least for the remote control, there is no perceptible delay. (Presumably bluetooth connections wouldn't be as quick to reestablish, though I didn't test that.)
Worked great for me! I found a little mercury tilt switch to harvest from my box of electronics, taped it on for now because I've lost my soldering iron, lost three screws in the process...
But my BB-8 unit doesn't need to be disassembled every time I want to chat with him, so I've got that going for me.
So excited to do this mod as soon as the switch comes in the mail. Our BB unit just shuts down entirely for whatever reason (even if our other two droids are interacting with it) and it's a colossal pain to have to open it up and turn it back on. While it's not really fixing the issue of it refusing to stay on and avoid the sleep mode even when interacting with the other droids, at least I don't have to open the thing up every single time.
Thanks much for this...did the mod today in a matter of minutes. I was headed down an overly complex path and this was perfect. I really love the BB unit, but without this mod or something similar its a paperweight. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for this mod - I just got a BB unit today and while it may be more of a stationary piece for my store desk, this is super helpful to turn it on and off when I have guests to interact with. :)
Add me to the list of those who did the mod, and did so successfully. Great enhancement, great engineering, great explanation. Many thanks!
I did this yesterday thanks to your video. Totally works great. Thank you again for the research and guide(s).
I just got back from making my own BB Droid, and with it being such a simple mod/fix, it makes me wonder why a tilt switch wasn't installed on the board to begin with or some other solution was implemented so it can turn back on without opening it. Thanks for this, I will be doing it to my droid asap.
I am so happy to find this video. I can't wait to give it a try! Thank you
I just got a BB unit from eBay, and remembered seeing this mod earlier. Now I'm wondering if there's another option, in using a reed switch to detect when the head is in place, so to reset all you'd have to do is remove and replace the head.
You sir are incredible
Thank you! Youve inspired me to get back into some electronics besides making my kid happy there is a fix for this!
In my case I have the R2D2 but this look a great feature. Have you analyzed the possibility to create something to connect the droid directly to a power supply and recharge batteries?
Thank you! This worked.. had a minor freak out when it didn't for about 30mins until I realised it was the remote not working. Great hack.. wondering how else I can upgrade bb8 now!
So basically the tilt switch is all that's needed instead of the board you made near the start? Interesting
I’m absolutely trying this. Great idea and thanks for sharing.
I imagine a couple gobs of hot glue on the back of the board would have worked, as a no soldered solution.
Thank you for making this! Great and helpful video.
I want to thank you for taking the time to share this with us. I am going to Disneyland in a few weeks and I have been searching the internet to try to figure out how to keep my Droid awake while at the park so it can interact with things as it should, and that brought me here. I have an R2 unit that I'll be carrying in an "Industrial Automation" backpack, and I don't want to constantly be having to reach in the peek hole down between his legs to cycle the power switch off and back on again. I don't want it to look like I'm molesting my Droid every time he powers off!😳🤭 So this is a great fix for that.☺ I wonder if just giving him a quick shake would work, or if he really needs to be turned upside down. What do you think? Thanks for the great content!👍
In the parks your droid will stay awake on its own. If a droid "sees" a location beacon, which are all over Galaxy's Edge, then they will stay awake for 6 hours from the point of the last location beacon they encounter. So in the park you're good, they will stay awake the whole time you're there. This mod is more for when you're back at home.
A shake, instead of tipping it upside down, may work. It depends on how hard you shake it and the direction of the shaking. But once you get a feel for what shake method works, I think it'd work fine.
Have a great trip!
@@Ruthsarian Thanks for the quick reply! That's great information to know. I.ve been obsessing over how I was going to keep him awake while at the park and all I could find was to cycle the power button off and on again. I figured Disney would have addressed this issue while at the park, but I couldn't find any information on it anywhere. One of the best kept secrets I guess. 🤷♂ I even wrote Disney for an answer but I'm still waiting for their response.
I'm going to be getting a BB-8 unit soon so R2 has a buddy. Maybe while at the park! So I'll be incorporating your mod in that for sure. 👍Thanks for all your help. Your the best. 😎👌
Just tried this on my daughter's bb unit and it works great as well as being a fairly easy mod. Thanks for the guide!
Can this be done with a C3 droid???
yup! they have teh same logic board inside as an R-unit droid.
I’ve seen the “core” of the bb droid sometimes tilt almost 90 degrees during movement. Is it possible for the switch to trigger during movement?
that could happen. i tried to trigger the switch by reversing quickly, turning quickly, and running it into walls and having it keep going forward, getting the motivator to rotate nearly 90 degrees inside the shell, but I never go the switch to trigger through moving BB with just the remote.
i can't say it won't happen, but i think under most circumstances it won't happen.
@@Ruthsarian i always thought about some old school reed switch to trigger the reset but with the magnetic head and such i wasn't so sure.
Another great video! I am thinking that a 4 pin socket header might be a good thing to solder in right there. You could securely push the tilt switch in, and unplug it if you ever wanted to mess with that header for other purposes.
Then again, I'm not really sure it gives any real advantages over the method you used here. I haven't heard of anyone hacking on the SWIO port yet, and it's another part to buy if you don't have that stuff already (albeit pennies).
The connector footprint has a 1.25mm pitch, so something like these connectors would work: www.amazon.com/dp/B075Y97R7C/
The SWD port can be used to debug and reprogram the NRF51822. And there's an exploit that allows you to dump its firmware via the SWD port. See:
www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/nrf51822-code-readout-protection-bypass-a-how-to/
blog.includesecurity.com/2015/11/firmware-dumping-technique-for-an-arm-cortex-m0-soc/
With this information and access to the SWD port, it's possible to obtain the firmware of the droid. You need a debugger of some kind to connect to the port; there are many options, look at OpenOCD's supported hardware page: openocd.org/doc/html/Debug-Adapter-Hardware.html
Once the firmware is dumped, you can try reverse engineering it. There are tools available that will help automate that process (but there is a learning curve). I recommend Ghidra: ghidra-sre.org/
From there the possibilities are endless. For example you could modify the firmware to make a BB droid think it was an R-unit with blasters and have the accessory button on the remote produce blaster noises.
Of course it's also possible to completely brick your droid, so any such hacking should be done carefully.
cool stuff man!
why didnt disney implement this in their very expensive droid :|
Are you on the Galaxy's Edge discord?
yup!
@@Ruthsarian awesome! I've got my head full of ideas since getting my BB droid a few weeks ago. This has led me down a long path of UA-cam videos, and I keep coming back to your videos. Thank you so much for these!
Brilliant.
awesome
Pretty cool
Genius