BB-8: what does this guy actually do?

[Beniboybling]

So by now I'm sure we're all familiar with the new BB-8 droid.

 

But what's got me thinking, is what does it actually do? It is far from your average astromech droid, I find it unlikely it could fit in a fighter, and I'm not seeing much room from practical tools in that spherical body.

 

Right now all it seems good for is rolling around looking cute... any ideas?

Edited April 22, 2015 by Beniboybling

[Wolfninjajedi]

Prob some kinda recon droid.

[Aurbere]

It's primary programming is to look adorable. Mission accomplished.

[Beniboybling]

Prob some kinda recon droid.

I did consider that, but it begs the question of why it doesn't use repulsorlifts...

 

Rolling around on a ball just seems impractical.

It's primary programming is to look adorable. Mission accomplished.

Apparently they plan to release a remote control toy version, buying.

[MadDutchman]

Advanced cuteness does appear to be it's primary function

 

Though you might be able to get some tools and stuff in it's head, kinda like Chopper's "arms"

 

Guess we'll find out end of the year.

[daniel_the_saint]

Next-gen version of a Mousedroid or a gronk?

[t-darko]

 

Rolling around on a ball just seems impractical.

 

You mean like a double bladed lightsaber or such . . . Don't think we're meant to ask these kinda questions;)

[LesParas]

So by now I'm sure we're all familiar with the new BB-8 droid.

 

But what's got me thinking, is what does it actually do? It is far from your average astromech droid, I find it unlikely it could fit in a fighter, and I'm not seeing much room from practical tools in that spherical body.

 

Right now all it seems good for is rolling around looking cute... any ideas?

 

Helping sell toys to 6 year olds!

[Beniboybling]

You mean like a double bladed lightsaber or such . . . Don't think we're meant to ask these kinda questions;)

Meh, the double-bladed sword does have some real practical advantages.

 

And a lot of the disadvantages are nullified by the fact its a lightsaber.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Beniboybling

[Wolfninjajedi]

Meh, the double-bladed sword does have some real practical advantages.

 

And a lot of the disadvantages are nullified by the fact its a lightsaber.

 

That and The Force completely nullifies that, really people ya gotta stop trying to apply RL weapon fighting to fictional weapons fighting where guys can move things with their minds and do all kinda of stuff.

[Silenceo]

That and The Force completely nullifies that, really people ya gotta stop trying to apply RL weapon fighting to fictional weapons fighting where guys can move things with their minds and do all kinda of stuff.

 

If I recall, the RL reasoning behind double sided swords being impractical, was the lack of power behind the strikes as well as the increased awkwardness that the distribution of weight caused. It was also noted that if mastered, such weapons would be great for quick strikes as well as defending, very agile if used by a master. Due to the dangers to the user however and the limited pro's, they were not used much if at all by many cultures.

 

That said, Star Wars solves those issues. Both blades are weightless, meaning they just have to worry about the weight of the hilt, which also allows them to use other combo's not normally usuable. Also, due to tech, it is certainly feasable to see a safety feature installed that auto de-activates a side of the blade if it would contact with its wielder. As for lacking much power in the strikes, due to being able to one shot most things by virtue of being a light saber, it allows such a weapon to capitalize on the fore mentioned speed and defensiveness.

 

So in theory at least, an other wise impractical weapon could be made completely practical if it used high tech such as we see in Star Wars. The odd bit is, is that by that time no one could use such in battle except those who possess the force.

 

Oh, and the rest of the issues as Wolf said, the force solves or even strengthens.

[Ghisallo]

Meh, the double-bladed sword does have some real practical advantages.

 

And a lot of the disadvantages are nullified by the fact its a lightsaber.

 

The double balded light saber is actually the most impractical sci-fi weapon I have ever seen. No one Who actually knows how to fight would ever think of creating one because it creates more problems than it solves in all truth.

 

Back to BB-8... It looks like he will be in a fighter...

 

Oscar Issac has spoken in interviews about how had to "bond" with the droid. Since he is an X-Wing pilot I would say that is a good indicator that BB-8 is the new R2.

 

As for size I see no reason why he would not be able to house the classic arm, data port etc. R2, at least in the movies does not evidence half the gizmos that would otherwise justify the size that was required to fit the actor inside...R2 vs BB-8,

 

The size difference could easily be explains by the fact that R2 is a model 70 decades older? So maybe the main difference between the two (story wise) is that power sources and CPU size have gotten smaller? Think of the difference between computers now and just 30-40 years ago. The phone I am typing this on has far more computational power than the Commodore 64 or Apple IIE I had as a kid and proportionally is A LOT smaller than the difference between R2 and BB-8.

 

So you can make him the new "cute droid", I mean let's be honest R2 was about cute factor too, and still have him fulfilling the same function.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Ghisallo

[Beniboybling]

The double balded light saber is actually the most impractical sci-fi weapon I have ever seen. No one Who actually knows how to fight would ever think of creating one because it creates more problems than it solves in all truth.

Well I think you'll find what Silenceo said is pretty much the case.

[t-darko]

Guys - it was a joke - We want cool stuff, BB-8 for someone at some age at some point will probably be that cool stuff - I'd call the rolling tin bucket fluff at this point, we really don't know until we've seen it, will we?

 

I saw the question as rhetorical . . .

 

And what's up with that Stormtrooper being to tall for the door way?

[Ghisallo]

If I recall, the RL reasoning behind double sided swords being impractical, was the lack of power behind the strikes as well as the increased awkwardness that the distribution of weight caused. It was also noted that if mastered, such weapons would be great for quick strikes as well as defending, very agile if used by a master. Due to the dangers to the user however and the limited pro's, they were not used much if at all by many cultures.

 

That said, Star Wars solves those issues. Both blades are weightless, meaning they just have to worry about the weight of the hilt, which also allows them to use other combo's not normally usuable. Also, due to tech, it is certainly feasable to see a safety feature installed that auto de-activates a side of the blade if it would contact with its wielder. As for lacking much power in the strikes, due to being able to one shot most things by virtue of being a light saber, it allows such a weapon to capitalize on the fore mentioned speed and defensiveness.

 

So in theory at least, an other wise impractical weapon could be made completely practical if it used high tech such as we see in Star Wars. The odd bit is, is that by that time no one could use such in battle except those who possess the force.

 

Oh, and the rest of the issues as Wolf said, the force solves or even strengthens.

 

Actually the lore makes it clear that there is NO auto off feature. They even note that the blade is dangerous to weild and the double blades can injure the weilder as such the logic of the double bladed saber makes little sense when you look at it from a practical point of view.

 

First due to the design of the weapon you not only have to move the weapon but also move your body around the weapon and since you can only move your body so much it limits the movement of the weapon. This is why u see Maul jumping all over the place. Look at it like this... If you are not that acrobatic you can only move the weapon as one would a kayak's double ended paddle.

 

This limited movements of the weapon then results in the following.

First you are not able to react as quickly in defense as with a single blade or in attack to exploit a sudden opening in attack.

 

Second because of the double blades (and the inability to take a "long grip" like you can with a staff so as not to lose fingers) you strikes lack power. So you are both slower and weaker and most of the forms speak about the speed and/or strength they bring to the table.

 

Third due to the fact of needing to "work around" the body the avenues of attack and defense are more limited there will be times where in order to defend an attack you will not be able to simply swing the closest blade but rather the blade furtherst away, else you lop off one of your own limbs. Or you have to potentially parry a blow with a less than optimal angle, again to avoid lopping of part of yourself. I suppose you can say this is a factor of the slower nature of the weapon but regardless... It is a major weakness.

 

So we have a weapon that would be less effective in deflecting blaster fire, less effective against those equally trained in light saber dueling (and even less effective against certain styles) which in order to wield with even basic effectiveness requires a lot more training (also stated in the lore. Since the two above things are primary purposes of the light saber it is a train wreck.

 

It is a cool looking weapon which makes no sense whatsoever and would obviously make zero sense if not for the martial arts skill of Ray Park as Darth Maul (he has practiced martial arts since he was 7.) To top it off when you know about Martial arts when you see Park fighting both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan you say "could have killed him there, there and there" because all his gymnastics that make the weapon appear to be worakable work actually make him MORE vulnerable in a fight not less.

 

Light saber of no, the double bladed saber makes NO sense. Now a 3 to 4 foot staff of light saber resistant material that has a 1-2 foot blade coming out of either end...THIS would makes some sense (but still have limits), but not look as cool me thinks. The double bladed light saber sure looks cool but there is no logic behind it... Not even a little because it doesn't actually address the real life issues with a double bladed sword at all and the only time the "light saber can one shot everything" applies is when you are slaughtering unarmed force blind citizens or cutting through a bulk head.

 

BTW even with how cool the Maul vs Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fight looks, if you actually watch the speed and fluidity of Maul...for that brief period after Obi-Wan cut the hilt in two, he is MUCH more fluid and fast than in the previous 3/4 of the fight.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Ghisallo

[Ghisallo]

Well I think you'll find what Silenceo said is pretty much the case.

 

And in reading it basically say "nice try but no". Especially since one of the things necessary for it to make sense doesn't exist according to the lore... namely the auto shut off mechanism to avoid self injury.

 

That said you failed to respond to the actual " on topic" stuff

Edited April 23, 2015 by Ghisallo

[Ghisallo]

Oh and additional evidence BB-8 will fulfill the fighter counterpart role R2 did BB-8 next to X-Wing

 

And from Celebration's prop show...

 

BB-8 riding shotgun in the back

Edited April 23, 2015 by Ghisallo

[Beniboybling]

Interesting finds on BB-8, well it would appear he has co-pilot capabilities.

 

But in terms of data ports and the like, I find that problematic due to his size. In Star Wars panels and other computer interfaces are fairly high up, level with the normal R2 unit, and necessarily so as people have to be able to effectively interface with them as well. So if BB-8 cannot in fact physically reach these panels, how is he going to hook up to them.

 

I'm also not sure on this technological development argument. For one such developments in the Star Wars universe don't appear to reflect real world development in any way. Technology in the Old Republic era for example, by and large is very similar in size and function to technology 4,000 years in the future. And despite the time gap between the Prequels and the Original Trilogy being a 20 years, only 10 years shorter than the gap between the OT and the ST, the technology is indistuigshable, as are the astromechs. I find it unlikely that the R-series has become obsolete.

 

At Celebration we all saw the designs of several more regular R-series units, so again unlikely.

 

One of the things I was considering is that if he does have tools in that little chassis of his, he might make an effective repair/salvage droid in terms of tight spaces and uneven terrain, his size meaning he would be able to do and carry more than say a probe droid, which just wouldn't have those capabilities. So that's a possibility.

[rawtravel]

All I know is that Kenny Baker is gonna get pretty darned dizzy, rolling around in that thing!

[Silenceo]

Actually, there are incidents of light sabers turning themselves off in order to not hurt their wielder.

 

Case in point:

 

Lord Nyax.

 

 

For those who do not know of him, he essentially had light sabers installed along his arms and legs so that he could use them in some-what of a hand to hand technique or knife fighting style. During one of his fights with Luke Skywalker, the Jedi tried to impale him on his own light saber that protruded from his knee. Before it could impact however, the blade instantly shut off and re-activated as soon as Nyax was no longer in danger from his own blade.

 

Nor can this be attributed to character skill, since Lord Nyax essentially was a force brute with no memory past the time he woke up on Coruscant during the Vong occupation. He was animistic, feral, and obsessed with fundamental things. Nor did he have that type of skill in his previous life, before all the augmentations.

 

The point however is that the tech for that specific safety feature on light sabers is in fact in the universe. Merely because they are not used, does not mean they can not. I will say however that the saber staff is much harder to use, as Kas'im explained in the Bane trilogy.

 

 

I am not saying it is the most practical, merely that given the universe it is used in, it is possible to still be useful and not as much of a hindrance as it would be on Earth or with primitive metal weaponry.

 

 

 

As for the droid, I am not quite sure what they have planned for him. A bit small for a maintenance droid, and definitely not an intelligience droid... Then again, its the ones you least suspect!

Edited April 23, 2015 by Silenceo

[tunewalker]

Interesting finds on BB-8, well it would appear he has co-pilot capabilities.

 

But in terms of data ports and the like, I find that problematic due to his size. In Star Wars panels and other computer interfaces are fairly high up, level with the normal R2 unit, and necessarily so as people have to be able to effectively interface with them as well. So if BB-8 cannot in fact physically reach these panels, how is he going to hook up to them.

 

I'm also not sure on this technological development argument. For one such developments in the Star Wars universe don't appear to reflect real world development in any way. Technology in the Old Republic era for example, by and large is very similar in size and function to technology 4,000 years in the future. And despite the time gap between the Prequels and the Original Trilogy being a 20 years, only 10 years shorter than the gap between the OT and the ST, the technology is indistuigshable, as are the astromechs. I find it unlikely that the R-series has become obsolete.

 

At Celebration we all saw the designs of several more regular R-series units, so again unlikely.

 

One of the things I was considering is that if he does have tools in that little chassis of his, he might make an effective repair/salvage droid in terms of tight spaces and uneven terrain, his size meaning he would be able to do and carry more than say a probe droid, which just wouldn't have those capabilities. So that's a possibility.

 

OR is Legends canon, there is a possibility that the tech of "movie canon" OR will be massively lower.

 

Other then that, its possible he has some other means to get into the computer terminals from wires on the ground. That and he could be a recon and Astromech droid while R2 was an Astromech UTILITY droid. How the ball helps him with Recon is 2 ways 1 speed, 2 by being that low to the ground he can be harder to notice. He could have other functions as well maybe Recon isnt one of them. We will see when the movie comes out.

 

 

Edit: other then that, considering his owner seems to be the "scrounger" chick, it is highly likely that he is used to assist her in her salvage operations.

Edited April 23, 2015 by tunewalker

[Ghisallo]

Actually, there are incidents of light sabers turning themselves off in order to not hurt their wielder.

 

Case in point:

 

Lord Nyax.

 

 

For those who do not know of him, he essentially had light sabers installed along his arms and legs so that he could use them in some-what of a hand to hand technique or knife fighting style. During one of his fights with Luke Skywalker, the Jedi tried to impale him on his own light saber that protruded from his knee. Before it could impact however, the blade instantly shut off and re-activated as soon as Nyax was no longer in danger from his own blade.

 

Nor can this be attributed to character skill, since Lord Nyax essentially was a force brute with no memory past the time he woke up on Coruscant during the Vong occupation. He was animistic, feral, and obsessed with fundamental things. Nor did he have that type of skill in his previous life, before all the augmentations.

 

The point however is that the tech for that specific safety feature on light sabers is in fact in the universe. Merely because they are not used, does not mean they can not. I will say however that the saber staff is much harder to use, as Kas'im explained in the Bane trilogy.

 

 

I am not saying it is the most practical, merely that given the universe it is used in, it is possible to still be useful and not as much of a hindrance as it would be on Earth or with primitive metal weaponry.

 

 

 

As for the droid, I am not quite sure what they have planned for him. A bit small for a maintenance droid, and definitely not an intelligience droid... Then again, its the ones you least suspect!

 

Hey I am not saying some guy did not modify his own personal light saber or something. I am just saying that in every source book I have found that goes into light saber combat it explains the difficulty of the form being the fact that it is far more difficult to learn because of the risk of injuring yourself.

 

Also what you see there could simply be instinct. As you said they are cybernetically implanted, you don't have to be a knowingly intelligent thinker to say "getting impaled by own saber bad...turn off" any more than a cat recognizing a water pistol knows to run away because its about to get squirted, or that the cat carrier means a trip to the vet.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Ghisallo

[SaveTheMonkeys]

I just hope he's secretly as much of a jerk as R2. Not as much as chopper, though - that guy is a full on sociopath.

 

Do people really get hung up on realism and practicality in star wars? Seriously? I suppose it would keep one busy - there's A LOT besides double bladed sabers to pick apart.

[Ghisallo]

Interesting finds on BB-8, well it would appear he has co-pilot capabilities.

 

But in terms of data ports and the like, I find that problematic due to his size. In Star Wars panels and other computer interfaces are fairly high up, level with the normal R2 unit, and necessarily so as people have to be able to effectively interface with them as well. So if BB-8 cannot in fact physically reach these panels, how is he going to hook up to them.

 

I'm also not sure on this technological development argument. For one such developments in the Star Wars universe don't appear to reflect real world development in any way. Technology in the Old Republic era for example, by and large is very similar in size and function to technology 4,000 years in the future. And despite the time gap between the Prequels and the Original Trilogy being a 20 years, only 10 years shorter than the gap between the OT and the ST, the technology is indistuigshable, as are the astromechs. I find it unlikely that the R-series has become obsolete.

 

At Celebration we all saw the designs of several more regular R-series units, so again unlikely.

 

One of the things I was considering is that if he does have tools in that little chassis of his, he might make an effective repair/salvage droid in terms of tight spaces and uneven terrain, his size meaning he would be able to do and carry more than say a probe droid, which just wouldn't have those capabilities. So that's a possibility.

 

Well first there is nothing to say the jack can't come out of his head or be on an articulated arm.

 

Next the idea of little change in tech seems to be based in large part of what is now legends. If we look at just the movies we see clear jumps in technology. Star destroyer's clearly get large and more powerful. We go from fighters being too small for hyperdrives to every fighter in the Alliance arsenal having them. We go from "low rider" walkers to the AT-AT etc.

 

If we use the real world the F-15, F-16, B-1 and B-52 are still in service but in terms of IT, Stealth and avionics the F-22 and the B-2 share little in common with them. Of the "legacy" models all but the B-52 are in the 30 year range (read OT to ST range). HOWEVER these "legacy" designs are still in service. We have 50 years between the R2 and BB series and the B-52 is in its 6th decade of service, so still having R2 units alongside BB units is not necessarily out of place.

 

So when you remove the baggage of the EU/Legends and just look at the Movies, I don't think its "off" to say that BB-8 is simply the cutting edge in astromech droids vs an R2 legacy model that will still be of use.

[t-darko]

I just hope he's secretly as much of a jerk as R2. Not as much as chopper, though - that guy is a full on sociopath.

 

Do people really get hung up on realism and practicality in star wars? Seriously? I suppose it would keep one busy - there's A LOT besides double bladed sabers to pick apart.

 

aye and there's a name for that disorder:rolleyes: