Description
The M4-series courier droid was first released a century before the start of the Clone Wars. The droid features a built in holo-projector which was a big selling point over its competitors at the time of its release. This feature came at a price premium however, and over time the unit fell out of favor for cheaper alternatives such as the ubiquitous MSE-series droids.
The M4-series can still be found in use in corporate office parks across the mid-rim where their robust construction sees them remaining operational over a century after their construction. Much of this durability is owed to the droid’s thick armored shell that closes to protect the delicate head assembly with holo-projector when the droid is charging or being transported.
This thick armor shell has also found the droid adopted for non-courier duty such as industrial inspection when offices upgraded to newer, sleeker models. This durability has also seen the droids co-opted by both the Rebellion and later the Resistance as flight grounds-crew assistants.
Behind the Scenes
M4-A1 is named for my children, M who is 4 and A who is 1.
When setting out to design M4-A1 I wanted to come up with a droid that would not only fit within the Star Wars universe, but could be built as a functional robot. The design was very challenging to come up with something that both fit my initial concept vision and could be produced as something functional within the design limitation of 20 unique parts. The part count restriction includes all of the off-the-shelf parts required to make the droid operational (servos, wheels, controller, LEDs, batteries, etc.). To achieve this many parts had to be reused or be multi-functional. The main chassis and cover components are used for both the front and rear of the robot. The fenders are the same on the left and right of the robot. The servo arm (and servo retaining cover) are used for both the head actuation as well as the cover actuation. I also wanted the design to be capable of being 3D printed on common hobbyist 3D printers and as such limited any part in size such that it would fit on a 250 mm x 250 mm build plate.
I had used Fusion 360 off-and-on since its release prior to this contest but this design is the most complex/challenging thing I have yet designed in the program. I found myself going back and re-doing aspects of the design as I discovered new features or better ways to do something. Fusion 360 is extremely powerful modeling software and I’m excited about continuing development of M4-A1 and building a functional prototype unit.