Are You an IoT Jedi? Create Your Own Star Wars Inspired Tech

From helmets to holocrons, these Particle-enabled IoT projects are perfect for any prototyping Padawan.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . (honestly, not too long ago), Hackster and Particle partnered up to create the world’s first Star Wars™ inspired IoT challenge!

If you’re unfamiliar with these alliance groups, Hackster is a community where beginners and pros can share their internet-connected hardware and learn from other makers. Particle, on the other hand, is a full-stack IoT cloud platform that offers the development tools and hardware to connect everyday objects to the internet. It’s easy to see why this was a perfect partnership.

Here, I decided to gather up the best submissions from the contest and share them. Maybe they can inspire you to create your own fun, inventive, and referential Star Wars inspired IoT project.

Star Wars Droid Translator Helmets Made by Minimum Effective Dose

These Droid Translator Helmets allow users to look like and speak droid to one another. Everyone else hears droid noises when the users speak to each other, but the wearers of these helmets can actually understand each other!

How does it work? In simple terms, the helmets can sense when the user is speaking and emits droid noises instead. The user’s voice is picked up by a Laryngophone (throat mic) and is then transmitted into the second user’s helmet. Pretty cool, right?

If you want to build your own set of helmets, the creators left behind a very detailed set of instructions and schematics.

Death Star Word Clock Made by Jordy Moors

First off, this project is more than a word clock that resembles the death star, it can also function as a digital clock, play snake, and replicate the ‘digital rain’ effect from The Matrix.

The hacker made the interactions basic and customizable so there are many ways you can change the features on the clock based off your own needs. If you wanted to build this clock, you would also have to build the casing and lettering design (along with implementing sounds and integrating the proper electronics). While there are many other intricacies, the clock is controlled by a web page and is made with the Particle Javascript library.

If you’re curious, the full schematic is here.

The Online Force Detector Made by Stefano Guglielmetti

Play Battlefront all the time, but don’t like playing without your friends? The Online Force Detector may be the perfect thing for you! These plexiglass signs light up in real-time when your friends connect to the PlayStation Network.

How does it work? A Particle Photon polls a Javascript API every minute to see if someone is online. If a friend does go online, the API responds with a string that contains the correct color information for the corresponding sign.

The model above only has 8 lights, but there are many ways to customize it to add more connections or use it for different services (Twitter, email, Facebook, whatever you want). The full schematic is here.

Holocron Lamp for the Discerning Jedi Made by Dave Clarke

With the Holocron Lamp, you can use the force to turn the holocron on or off. You just have to simply wave your hand above the lamp and it rises up and turns on.

There isn’t a very specific set of instructions for how this was created, but you can imagine plenty of coding and circuitry was involved. The creator did leave plenty of visual schematics though. The project is constructed around a Particle Photon IoT dev Board and used 3D printed material to construct the enclosure.

Other Star Wars IoT Projects

There are many other amazing Star Wars-inspired IoT projects on Hackster.io. Here are other great projects that are original and unique. If one of the projects above didn’t inspire you, maybe one of these can:

• Enter The House Like A Sith Lord: Plays the “Imperial March” theme anytime you enter the room.
• Use the force . . . Or your Brainwaves?: A thought control system that allows you to control a robot, cursor on a PC, or lights with your mind.
• Jedi Light Switch: Replace your boring old light switch with a blue glowy one that can be controlled with the wave of your hand.
• Interactive Star Wars 3D Art: Interactive art that has has a motion sensor and an ultrasonic range sensor. Whenever someone stands in front of it, Darth Vader’s lightsaber lights up and his eyes glow red.
• R2-D2 — Weather Assistant: Ever wanted R2-D2 to tell you how hot or cold it is outside? This is the project for you.

Of course, there are many other Star Wars Theme-inspired projects out there. They are just waiting for a young padawan or master!