How BB-8 in The Force Awakens Stacks Up Against Today's Robots

BB-8 is arguably one of the cutest characters in the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens.  With is rounded body and fun personality, the droid rolls around while helping Rey and Finn. But how well would this droid actually work in real life? And how would it stack up against other robots?

BB-8 is probably propelled by a set of wheels that propel the sphere by spinning against its inner wall. It also likely has a magnetic mast to hold onto and control BB-8's head.

Now if we're to suspend disbelief for a moment and look at everything BB-8 can do in the movie, we also have to assume that the robot has powerful magnets that it can use to hook onto metal exteriors. It also has metal stilts that allow it to stabilize itself if encountering turbulent conditions, such as when Rey is piloting the Millennium Falcon.

The sheer "roundness" of BB-8 makes it highly versatile in many conditions. It can traverse tough terrain as long as it keeps up its rolling motion. Arguably, the droid would have trouble "starting off" in sand if it sank slightly, but extra power could theoretically push it free. It's likely that the droid wouldn't have trouble with rubble, either.

However, BB-8's mobility isn't all that impressive. Robots with treaded wheels, such as the Mars rover Curiosity, would have an easier time traversing loose, shifting materials such as sand. In contrast, BB-8's body looks relatively smooth, which means that it has a hard time with grip and could, in theory, spin out in mud or other loose materials-rather like when your car can't get enough traction.

Of course, BB-8 is arguably mostly going to stay on ships and around other manmade areas. This may explain its body shape and design. However, even there the robot could run into issues-mostly stairs. While it's possible that BB-8 may use its powerful magnets to climb stairs, other robots would be able to do so far more efficiently.  For example, C-3PO would easily be able to tackle stairs in comparison. And other climbing robots today tackle stairs with a three-pronged approach with several rotating "wheels."

You may also argue that BB-8 could tackle stairs and other vertical objects with jets, similar to what R2-D2 uses. However, BB-8 has yet to show that it has this particular ability. While it does appear to have a tiny flame jet that could be used for ship repairs and possibly even as a tiny thruster in space (mostly with the powerful release of the material used to generate the flame to create force), it's unlikely that the robot would be able to do well with vertical planes involving gravity.

In other words, BB-8's particular motions, while cute, are far from practical on rough terrain. It seems that BB-8 is mostly designed for relatively flat surfaces and areas where there is a lot of metal where it could find traction with the use of magnets.

With that said, BB-8 is still a pretty awesome droid.

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