R2D2 Center Core

The central core of R2 contains his R2 batteries along with several essential electronic components, including his processing hub and motor controllers for his neck and feet. While most builders typically use one or two electronic boards, I initially tried a different approach by creating a removable cube for easy battery charging.

However, this design posed challenges, particularly the need to unplug multiple cables each time the cube was removed for charging. Consequently, I reverted to a more conventional circuit board setup. The new design allows me to remove and charge the batteries outside of R2 without disconnecting any cables. Additionally, R2 is equipped with a permanently installed power unit, enabling simultaneous charging and operation. The permanent power unit is a BEAUDENS Portable Power Station. This powers his main CPU (Raspberry Pi 4 v5 USB + Front LED Strip), Neck Controller (Raspberry Pi Zero W 2 & 16 channel servo controller v12),  Amazon Echo Speaker (v5 USB bluetooh speak with Alex control), Neck Stepper Motor (12v via a controller) and a small wifi router (v5 USB). By doing this I can work on R2s main program while his other batteries are being charged or while charging the power station as it have pass though power.