Make: Technology on Your Time Volume 23

Workshop

» Milwaukee’s Firefly Workshop

Droid Factory

Craig Smith of South Milwaukee, Wis., is a hot tub installer during the day, an inveterate tinkerer when not on the job. He does most of his work in his crowded but well-organized basement space, which he calls the Firefly Workshop, after the fireflies that inundated it a few years ago, day and night.

The first thing a visitor might see is Smith’s aluminum-and-brass “astromech” droid project. His third such robot, the droid can roll, turn its head, play sound clips and lights, and even pop out its third leg. Featured in MAKE Volume 02, Smith has been a member of the online R2 Builders Club ...