There’s something that connects Star Wars fans to drones and we can see why. For lovers of airborne action who also love sci-fi, these rugged flying machines are just the thing.
Below you’ll find the latest builds from drone enthusiasts, but we’re also looking forward to seeing your own DIY projects – the Code Black Drone and the Snowflake are still waiting to be manned by a Stormtrooper…
The Millenium Falcon Drone
French quadcopter fan Olivier, who goes by the name Olivier-FR on Reddit, was the first Star Wars fan to famously combine his love of DIY with his love of Star Wars.
He created the skin for his flyer with $11 (€10) of foam and added $13 (€12) LED lights to the front and rear. Helpfully, he’s shared both the plans to build the drone itself and the Millennium Falcon frame .
TIE Interceptor Drone
“ The Millenium Falcon Drone was fun, but now it’s time for the Dark Side” – that’s what Olivier must have thought when he decided to build another Star Wars drone: The TIE Interceptor. For this, he built the “Prophecy 355” quadcopter himself and placed a light foam insulate shell over it to achieve an authentic look.
You can keep up to date with his new projects on his YouTube channel . We’re keeping our fingers crossed that one day he’ll release a video of the ultimate battle between his two creations.
FPV Star Wars Speeder Bike
Adam Woodworth modified an off-the-shelf Star Wars toy to fly the drone he always dreamt of flying – the FPV Star Wars Speeder.
The idea popped into his mind when he started multi-rotor drone racing. The fast low-level flying reminded him of the Endor chase scene from the Return of the Jedi. Naturally then, this project was an obvious choice to combine his interest and experience in remote control flight with his love of Star Wars.
Featured image credit: Stephen Warrener for Adam Woodworth
Kwambio wants to bring a friendly face to 3D printing with its $1,000 platform-locked printer
Building a closed software and hardware ecosystem gives companies the advantage of being able to control how the technology is used and helping to get customers tied into buying compatible products.
An interesting new attempt at creating such an ecosystem comes from Kwambio . The Ukraine-based startup, which has attracted $500,000 from an unnamed local angel investor and won $19,000 in prize money at the IDCEE conference in 2014, is gearing up to launch a 3D printing marketplace along with a printer called Unique One priced at just somewhere between $800 and $1,000.
The secret behind the relatively low price is that the device is locked to work only with the Kwambio marketplace, where designers can upload their models to be customized and bought by customers. Most 3D printers use the popular .STL file format as the basis of the designs they print. Kwambio also uses .STL they can’t be directly downloaded – instead, designs are streamed directly to 3D printers from the company’s servers.
The Unique One has a printing speed of 300 mm per second and a 300×300×250 mm build volume, which is on par or even better than other similar devices on the market.
https://www.youtubeom/watch?v=_nGOahHdnRY
The platform itself is supposed to bring a simple and user-friendly interface to 3D printing, saving users the need to download files or install specialized software to their computers.
Kwambio’s marketing director, Kate Kolambet, says that it has 2,000 subscribers, 43.3 percent of whom are in the USA. Before the planned shipping date of the Unique One in fall 2015, the Kwambio software will be released over the summer to allow users to print with their own printers and use print-on-demand services that will be offered by partners.
➤ Kwambio
This article has been updated to clarify that Kwambio uses STL files but in a different way to many 3D-printing companies.
MacBook Pro owners complain about a mysterious ‘popping’ sound
A growing number of Apple users are reportedly hearing an unusual popping sound coming from their MacBook Pro laptops – and nobody seems to know why.
Numerous annoyed customers took to the Apple support discussion board , as well as other forums , to complain about the popping noise, as spotted by 9to5Mac . According to complaints, the issue mostly pertains to the latest 15-inch MacBook Pro model.
The mysterious sound has been compared to the “clicking” or “creaking” noise you hear when “slowly squeez[ing] a plastic bottle” but it remains unclear what is causing the issue. One thing the complaints share is that the sound tends to occur during more intensive tasks like gaming, and image and video editing.
“When I use the laptop in my lap and the fan comes on, I notice occasionally ‘clicking’ occurring on the right side, near the top of the speaker grill. It almost sounds like what you would hear when metal expands/contracts when heated (like an oven),” one user says. “I can’t reproduce it on demand, but […] it will start doing it randomly.”
Some MacBook Pro owners experiencing the issue speculate the noise might be coming from the display hinges.
“I was having this problem too. Late 2016 MBP with annoying popping sound that seemed to come from the hinge,” another user said. “It happened frequently when opening the laptop, and then later while using it rather randomly, but seemed like it might have been related to warming up from use.”
Apple seems to be unsure of the cause too. Some users report that company technicians replaced internal parts like the logic board, but the issue continues to persist. Others claim Apple blamed the noise on a small dent on the bottom casing.
What’s particularly annoying is that Apple insists the dent isn’t covered under warranty, according to some users.
“I took my laptop in to the genius bar for this popping noise. They said it is caused by this small dent on the bottom casing hitting the fan. They told me I had to replace the entire bottom casing for $130. Not covered under warranty because it’s user inflicted damage [or] a wearable part,” another MacBook Pro owner said.
Have you heard the mysterious pop from your MacBook Pro? Fill us in down in the comments.
Update: We have since received a video showing the popping sound from one of our readers experiencing the issue. Here it is:
Fortunately, the user claims he was able to get a replacement unit from Apple – so not all hope is lost if your laptop happens to pop too.