It’s May the 4th, otherwise known as Star Wars Day, a holiday very near and dear to our hearts. This year, we decided to celebrate it a bit differently than years past. With an experiential tech and maker-project, we took a complex approach and turned it into a simplified at-home project as we made our version of a device inspired by one of our favorite shows.
With the launch of Disney+’s “Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian”, the release of The Rise of Skywalker which completes the Skywalker Saga, and the final season of The Clone Wars, we thought it’d be the perfect moment to employ our expertise in software development, production, fabrication, and storytelling to architect a fun, useful device inspired the galaxy far, far, away. So, we brought to life a real-life Tracking Fob from Disney+’s “The Mandalorian.
Since the tracking fobs used by the Bounty Hunter’s Guild in The Mandalorian are a bit of a mystery to many Star Wars fans, we decided to figure it out ourselves.
How We Made it Work
The MVRK version of the tracking fob uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to track down keys, a phone, or other BLE enabled devices or beacons. We used an ESP32 Bluetooth enabled microcontroller and a small LiPo battery to connect to a BLE device and track its signal strength. The closer the tracking fob gets to the selected device (or bounty), the stronger the signal strength and the faster the light on the front flashes.
Using resin 3D printing and custom hand-painting, this tracker is able to pair and track a variety of devices
It wouldn’t be fun to keep this to ourselves so we’re open-sourcing the instructions for building your own, including a 3D model (suitable for most 3D printer types) and the source code.
Make Your Own
Make one for yourself and never lose track of your phone, your keys, or Baby Yoda while you’re stuck at home. The only items you need are:
- 3D printer (if you don’t have one, there are a lot of 3D printing services out there, or check out a local printing service near you)
- Soldering iron
- A few electronics components you can grab online.
For further information, check out our instructions HERE.
Join the fun by building your own to track all the things you’ve been looking for during quarantine. Once it’s up and running, come back and tell us about your at-home and socially distant bounty hunting.
To learn more about how we did it, how it works, and how we used the force, check it out below.
Disclaimer: This post is in no way affiliated with Disney, Disney+, or Lucasfilm. Further, MVRK does not guarantee or warranty these instructions. Please be safe and build under parent supervision.
