With the never-ending energy crisis always on our minds, it’s always a good idea to think of alternative energy solutions, especially when building and operating astromechs like R2-D2. Check out this cool Artoo unit with solar panels! Now all we need are two suns…

Developed by Yosuke Kimura and Daisuke Goto, two electrical systems majors at Hiroshima International University, the radio controlled homage to the Star Wars robot includes two shoulder-mounted solar panels that would conceivably power the droid when its normal energy supply runs down. The robot was recently on display in downtown Hiroshima, Japan as an example of the university’s engineering program.

Read more about it here:
Solar-powered Star Wars droid found in Hiroshima, Japan

This entry was posted on May 2, 2011 at 2:55 pm and is filed under R2 Builders, robots. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.