Imagineers Discuss Next Steps and Lessons Learned After BD Droids Debut at Disneyland
Fans visiting Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge last week were delighted by the arrival of three free-roaming BD droids.
The unexpected visitors to Batuu were part of a Walt Disney Imagineering test of new robotics characters that were unveiled a few days earlier at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IRS 2023).
@DisneyResearch introduces their new robot at #IROS2023! Trained in simulation with #reinforcementlearning! @ieeeiros pic.twitter.com/hH7AbKfHWL
— Davide Scaramuzza (@davsca1) October 4, 2023
The adorable BD droids first appeared in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, where BD-1 serves as Cal Kestis’ trusty sidekick. Subsequently, the droids have also appeared in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
A Test Run
While Star Wars fans were understandably excited to see the BD droids roaming Batuu, Disney quickly clarified that the droids were just out for a test run, and were yet to officially join Galaxy’s Edge.
Photo: Electronic Arts
“As we often do, our R&D Imagineers are testing one of their latest robotics characters, and today we are excited to be doing this with guests in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Park,”
Discussing Next Steps
After the successful playtest of the BD droids, the president of Walt Disney Imagineering Bruce Vaughn, and other Imagineers met with Disney CEO Bob Iger and Parks president Josh D’Amaro to share what they learned.
View this post on Instagram
In a post on Instagram, Walt Disney Imagineering wrote:
“Following a playtest of our latest free-roaming robotic characters inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at @disneyland, Bruce Vaughn and R&D Imagineers shared key learnings and discussed next steps with Bob Iger and @joshdamaro. We’re so excited about the variety of ways our Imagineers are bringing new and innovative characters to life using sophisticated technology hidden in little droids like these!”
Will We See the BD Droids Again?
While the BD droids were impressive in and of themselves, it sounds like the test run may have served a broader purpose.
Photo: Disney
Hopefully, this is not the last we will see of the little guys. Disney has long tested out robotic characters as part of its “Living Character Initiative,” including Lucky the Dinosaur, Remy, Luxo Jr., and the Muppet Mobile, only for them never to be seen again.
Photo: Disney Wiki
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