Voice-controlled R2D2, a DIY Raspberry Pi-powered project

"Star Wars" fans would love this: a hacker has built a model of the robot R2D2 powered by the tiny Raspberry Pi computer, a tech site reported.

 

Computer science Ph.D. student Lingxiang Xiang built the voice-controlled model to woo his girlfriend, according to a report on Wired.com.

 

“My original plan was to build a Wall-E robot, which seems more cute and therefore might be more attractive to my girlfriend. Unfortunately, Wall-E toys available in the market are too small for Raspberry Pi hacking. The R2-D2 toy is larger and I happened to find that one guy was selling several unworkable R2-D2 toys for a low price. So I bought one immediately and started to hack it,” Wired.com quoted Xiang as saying.

 

He added it was a "secret project,” and that his girlfriend knew nothing of it until her birthday.

 

But her first word upon seeing the droid? "WOW."

 

Xiang's motorized R2-D2 can track faces and motion and can respond to voice commands.

 

"She said it’s the best gift she ever received," he recalled. — TJD, GMA News