"Star Wars": Hobbyist builds C-3PO head with AI on Raspberry Pi
Many a "Star Wars" fan would probably like to talk to the protocol droid C-3PO. Student Samuel Potozkin has fulfilled this dream.
Hobbyist Samuel Potozkin shows the AI droid head, modeled after C-3PO from "Star Wars."
(Image: Samuel Potozkin / Screenshot)
Student and hobbyist Sam Potozkin has recreated the head of the protocol droid C-3PO from “Star Wars” using 3D printing and artificial intelligence (AI) on a Raspberry Pi 5. People can interact with the droid head and ask it questions, for example, which it then answers using a Large Language Model (LLM). The necessary instructions for the replica are available on GitHub.
First, Potozkin printed the head of C-3PO from a 3D template using a Prusa Core One 3D printer. However, the head still required some post-processing, including hand-sanding the surface, before the primer could be applied. This was followed by several layers of Alclad II chrome paint to achieve the “true-to-life” gold surface, topped with a yellow-orange paint and a 2K resin for sealing.
Access to LLM
The core of the robot's electronics is a Raspberry-Pi-5 single-board computer, which captures voice input via microphones, processes the AI response, and outputs it with the voice of the “Star Wars” droid via a bone conduction transducer.
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For voice capture, the hobbyist uses a Whisper-based speech recognition system. Voice inputs are converted into text and forwarded to OpenAI's LLM, which generates corresponding reactions and answers. In the standard setup, the system accesses cloud services from OpenAI and ElevenLabs via an API, according to Potozkin in the project video on YouTube. The reactions and answers largely align with the anxiously formal manner that C-3PO exhibits in “Star Wars.” For voice output, Potozkin uses speech synthesis modeled after the voice of Anthony Daniels, the original voice of the droid in “Star Wars.”
Voice output is delivered via an exciter, a bone conduction transducer that generates sound waves through vibrations, which are emitted from the head. This results in the slightly tinny sound quality of the C-3PO head's voice.
The droid head can interact with people, react to spoken words, and provide answers to questions. However, this takes a few seconds.
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Anyone who wishes can rebuild the C-3PO head. Potozkin provides the necessary 3D printing files for the head and the complete code on GitHub. In the repository, Potozkin has also published the detailed paper “Threepio: From Intelligence to Interaction in Embodied AI Systems” (PDF) for explanation.
(olb)
