Droid Caller with electronics (dmachinist kit)

Luke the Belter

Well-Known Member
Hi...

I got one of dmachinists wonderful kobold kits but as awesome as his kit is this should not become a "see what I have"-thread ;) there are quite a few outside yet.

When I have prop in my hands I want it to do something special - lightsaber light up, make sound - droid caller buzz.

So I searched for the right electronics to get a nice buzz as near as possible to the movie droid caller.
I got a result which sounds really nice and some members here suggested that I should share my wisdom with you.

Theory

There are three types of buzzers:

- piezzo
- electronic
- mechanical

The first and the second type just make high frequencie whistling noices through setting a membran under voltage. They normaly have round covers.
What you want is a mechanical buzzer
It contains an electro magnet and a small metal arm which can oscillate.
When you close the electric circuit the magnet attracts the metal arm. When the metal arm gets in contact with the magnet the electronic circuit is broken and the arm oscillates back in starting position. Just then the circuit is closed again and the magnet attracts the metal arm...
and so on.
The oscillating from the metal arm gives the buzzing noice.

So I can say don't try any round buzzer there isn't enough space for this setup.


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Fitting the electronics inside the kobold

I had the idea that I could use the flash button to switch a micro switch on the inside of the kobold head.
I invented an acrylic glass disc which holds the micro switch in place and sits tight in place.

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You have to make sure that the buzzer sits tight in place and has no contact to the droid caller metal, otherwise after the first buzz the magnet attracts the metal from the caller and you have to detach it and set it in place again. I used some foam sheet and glue.


Now the "see what I have"-part ;)

Droidencaller 17.jpg Droidencaller 16.jpg


And here the buzzing sound


Feel free to ask any questions.
I hope you like it.

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Last edited by a moderator:
Very informative and well researched. Thank you for sharing this. It looks (of course, dmachinist) and sounds, and I'm also sure feels, really Pro.
 
I added a dome to the caller, lately.
So I could wear it on my Luke ANH belt.

Not very difficult to build. I used a measure spoon of the size "table spoon 15 ml".

Droidencaller 18.jpg Droidencaller 19.jpg Droidencaller 20.jpg

I used a rotary tool to trim it to the right size.

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After that I glued a short piece of PVC pipe in the spoon.

Droidencaller 24.jpg Droidencaller 25.jpg

The pipe fits into the droid caller head and is holded in place by the small screw which is screwed in the bulb holder.

That is my result.

Droidencaller 27.jpg

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I love using found items on a prop. Great work! Looks amazing. I have not built my DEC droid caller yet. Seeing this makes me want to get to work ASAP!
 
Any chance you'd be willing to share a parts list for the electronics?
It is very easy.
You need a connection to the battery, a momentary switch, some cable, something to hold the switch in place as I did with some acrylic glass AND a MECHANICAL buzzer.
I can't give you the specific name of the buzzer because im in germany and there are other electronic shops here.

If you have any further questions I'll try to answer them.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
 
After 5 years, I'm finally getting around to building mine.

I made a 3d-printed electronics bay to hold the switch and buzzer, so that part is easier. The electronics parts list is included on thingiverse.

Note: There's a channel for the wire from the bottom leg of the switch to run it up to the top alongside the switch.

If you glue the buzzer to the support for it, you won't be able to get to the internal screws for the screw ring. So, either don't glue the buzzer in, or do it last. It probably doesn't need it.

Also the contact pin housing doesn't need to be glued in anymore since the 3d print holds it in place.

IMG_5424.JPG


IMG_5423.JPG
 
After 5 years, I'm finally getting around to building mine.

I made a 3d-printed electronics bay to hold the switch and buzzer, so that part is easier. The electronics parts list is included on thingiverse.

Note: There's a channel for the wire from the bottom leg of the switch to run it up to the top alongside the switch.

If you glue the buzzer to the support for it, you won't be able to get to the internal screws for the screw ring. So, either don't glue the buzzer in, or do it last. It probably doesn't need it.

Also the contact pin housing doesn't need to be glued in anymore since the 3d print holds it in place.

View attachment 1320547

View attachment 1320548
I wonder if this would work for a vintage
 

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