You can soon build your own R2-D2 droid — and teach it how to take selfies for you

Rachel Paige

Updated 31 August 2017 at 1:40 pm

<p>It’s the most wonderful time of the year, it’s Force Friday! Once again, Disney and Lucasfilm are teaming up to drop so…</p>

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, it’s Force Friday! Once again, Disney and Lucasfilm are teaming up to drop so many wonderful new products, things, and experiences ahead of the latest Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi. Better go ahead and get your wallets and credit cards ready now, over the next four days you’re going to give them a pretty intense workout.

Whether your hanging out at home, or traveling around the galaxy in search of Luke Skywalker, it’s always better to have a buddy by your side — and as he’s proved time and time again, RD-D2 make a great copilot, no matter what the adventure. If you’ve ever wanted to have your own R2, that will soon be a reality. Even better, if you want to build your own R2, do we have some news for you.

LittleBits — which uses electronic, magnetic building blocks so you can build your own inventions and devices and program them — has just debuted their newest product, a R2-D2 droid kit. Using a smartphone app, kids (and let’s be real, adults and also everyone in-between) can build their droid, and then program it to perform tasks — whether easy or daring for R2 is up to you.

“The Droid Inventor Kit brings Droids to life, inspiring imagination and invention for kids around the world [and] send their creation on more than 17 special Star Wars missions, complete with authentic droid sounds from the Star Wars films,” LittleBits write in their press release. “As they unlock new capabilities and level up their Droid Inventor skills, kids can also learn how to create their own custom R2 Units and experiences, combining play with real hands-on learning.”

littleBits

The amazing thing about this is that it’s totally up to the builder’s discretion as to how put R2 together, and then what you can make him do. Since the whole thing is run off of a smartphone, via blue tooth, yes there is a way to set R2 up so he can take a selfie for you. And if that isn’t the best Star Wars thing that’s ever happened, I’m not sure what is.

We also haven’t even touched on the best part: LittleBits is aiming to bring more girls into STEM, and “by designing products that are gender-inclusive and celebrating female inventors. littleBits products currently see adoption by girls at around thirty-five percent–an industry high.”

You can pick up a LittleBits R2 kit for yourself at Walmart, Apple Store, Amazon, and littlebits.com.

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