OT: That Droid Ball/Roll2-D2/Soccer Ball Droid from the trailer...

[SpikeSpiegel 2,077]

Makes complete sense!

In comparison to Astromech droids, practicality wise, its a work of genius:

-Unidirectional movement because of the ball shape instead of forward/backwards movement of Astromechs (and mouse droids, for that matter).

-The shape would also allow the droid to position itself utilizing spherical angles to provide sight sensors and receptor systems many options for fields of view.

-Gyroscopic stabilization systems incorporated into the shape make it extremely mobile and stable, impossible to suffer from being knocked over, making it even more self-sufficient than Astromechs.

-Such systems would also make the droid more evasive and capable of maneuvering over or through various types of terrain. Possibly buoyant.

-Small size makes it compact and easy to transport instead of bulky, trashcan-shaped units that take up valuable cargo space.

-Also on size, housing systems made to accommodate such a droid won't need to be as demanding for designers wanting to integrate it into spacecraft.

-It's probably going to be in a bunch of FIFA ads.

This, of course, is under the assumption that this new Soccer Ball Droid (SBD) was made with the same intention as Astromechs and that it is expected to fill the role of an Astromech in the new trilogy.

I'm excited about it already.

[stegocent 1,052]

I think it looks retarded

But to each his own

[Tipperary 2,370]

I feel like they were late to the punch after Interstellar's excellent droids, trying too hard to come up with something new and wacky. Coupled with the rumours that it was a Disney-side bit of meddling I don't hold hopes for it to be well-integrated.

[Sonikgav 321]

I personally think its a Roomba style droid. Only the top dome is the actual droid, what we all assume is its body, is just a ball its happened to manage to ride.

 

Basically until i see more, i think were looking at an action/comedy scene and taking more from it.

 

Remember the scene in Avengers, where Iron Man is trying to steer the Nuke away from New York? Now imagine you had never seen Iron Man before, that the trailer of that scene was your only point of reference. You could think that this is a dude that walks around with a robot suit and a giant missile on his back.

 

Of course yeah, it is Disney now so i wouldnt put it past them either way.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Sonikgav

[FTS Gecko 23,148]

I've said this elsewhere, but I'll be really disappointed if the next few seconds of the RollerMech footage following what was shown in the teaser trailer didn't involve

 

a:  The sound of Imperial blasters firing

b:  An explosion and

c:  A loud, Artoo-like "WAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO" droid scream.

[Urrgok 124]

How people can work up the energy to complain about that little droid when we got a fridge-sized monstrosity with feet that ran around yelling "GONK! GONK!" in the very first film is quite beyond me. And I am a huge fan of the gonk-droid, btw.

[R22 1,065]

My question is how is the head piece kept both 'attached' to the ball base and oriented given the necessary lack of physical connections for the spherical benefits to remain possible without bashing the head into the ground every 1/3 of a rotation.

 

Magnetic field? Seems to invite many other practical problems.

Don't bring any metal near R2-WTF or else he'll steal your lightsaber, wipe your hard drive, and lose the connection keeping his head on. Literally.

 

All that being said, I found him charming.

[Jimmeh 19]

If you recall the ot method of loading astromech a into fighters I'm sure you'll share my visions of frequent decapitation.

[Tipperary 2,370]

My question is how is the head piece kept both 'attached' to the ball base and oriented given the necessary lack of physical connections for the spherical benefits to remain possible without bashing the head into the ground every 1/3 of a rotation.

 

Magnetic field? Seems to invite many other practical problems.

Don't bring any metal near R2-WTF or else he'll steal your lightsaber, wipe your hard drive, and lose the connection keeping his head on. Literally.

 

All that being said, I found him charming.

This is my basic problem, the tech just doesn't feel "Star Wars" enough, stylistically, even given a 30-year gap.

[DarkFather 295]

My question is how is the head piece kept both 'attached' to the ball base and oriented given the necessary lack of physical connections for the spherical benefits to remain possible without bashing the head into the ground every 1/3 of a rotation.

 

Magnetic field? Seems to invite many other practical problems.

Don't bring any metal near R2-WTF or else he'll steal your lightsaber, wipe your hard drive, and lose the connection keeping his head on. Literally.

 

All that being said, I found him charming.

 

Sorry, I see the pic above and my mind auto goes into FMJ mode...

 

R2-WTF rolling along quoting... "This is my ball. There is no other ball like it...."

 

Again, sorry.

[SpikeSpiegel 2,077]

My question is how is the head piece kept both 'attached' to the ball base and oriented given the necessary lack of physical connections for the spherical benefits to remain possible without bashing the head into the ground every 1/3 of a rotation.

 

Magnetic field? Seems to invite many other practical problems.

Don't bring any metal near R2-WTF or else he'll steal your lightsaber, wipe your hard drive, and lose the connection keeping his head on. Literally.

 

All that being said, I found him charming.

The head piece is probably attached to the gyroscopic stabilization system allowing it to stay in place, even while in rotation.

I can see where everyone's gripe is coming from. It's not as ruggedly styled as other droids we've seen in the past movies, but it is hard for me to deny that the shape and design is way more practical than Astros.

[FTS Gecko 23,148]

I can see where everyone's gripe is coming from. It's not as ruggedly styled as other droids we've seen in the past movies, but it is hard for me to deny that the shape and design is way more practical than Astros.

 

It suffers from the same fundamental design flaws as the Daleks.  However, it's not quite as ridiculously stupid as rocket-powered flying R2-D2.

[Jo Jo 4,662]

Well.... spoilers:
 

If you believe the leaked information, apparently this droid doesn't really have a prominent roll at all. Its more of  background fill-in.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Jo Jo

[KCDodger 10,596]

>Not noticing that center which droid is attached to doesn't move, but two plates on the outside of it do, essentially being wheels, which are at a slanted angle creating a shape like (\|/) for the droid

You guys....