From Superinnovators 13/10/23. This article is in TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) format which is popular in the innovation community and provides a bullet summary of information.
- Droid debut: BD-style droids, originating from the Star Wars universe, have been introduced and tested at Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge theme park attraction in California. The robots were designed and built by Disney’s R&D outfit Walt Disney Imagineering.
- Media Presence: These droids made their debut in “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” and later appeared in “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett” episode 5.
- Social buzz: Viral videos have garnered millions of views on social media, showcasing the BD units seamlessly roaming around Galaxy Edge’s Black Spire Outpost, Batuu.
- Disney’s word: Disneyland spokesperson said: “As we often do, our R&D Imagineers are testing one of their latest robotics characters, and today we are excited to be doing this with guests in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Park.”
- Attraction overview: Disneyland’s Star Wars-themed park attraction, which opened in 2019, offers visitors a glimpse into the outer-rim world of Batuu, featuring various iconic franchise elements.
- Engineering marvel: The introduction of the BD units represents a significant engineering achievement, especially given their unique bipedal design. A version without the Star Wars style paint job was unveiled at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems IROS conference in Detroit last week.
- Design comparison: While the physical design of the BD units at the park is larger than their fictional counterparts, their intricate mechanics, stability, and interaction with park guests have garnered significant attention and excitement.
BD units are explorer droids, and these three definitely did some exploring this morning pic.twitter.com/QR1B68pjsQ
— Disneyland News Today (@dlnt) October 12, 2023
Blue, Orange, and Green (they don’t have real names) met the droids of Black Spire Outpost this morning pic.twitter.com/9sczwvSakl
— Disneyland News Today (@dlnt) October 12, 2023
WOW!!!! NEW DROID characters at Galaxy’s Edge!!
— Disney Dan Becker (@DisneyDan) October 12, 2023
Check out these tiny little guys! What an amazing addition.
Hope they stick around. pic.twitter.com/TSZPmRVvWz
More info
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/destinations/disneyland/star-wars-galaxys-edge/
https://sites.disney.com/waltdisneyimagineering/