Just a few months after graduating college, Jason Uy and his fellow engineersbuilt a lightsaber.
Now, plenty of companies will build you a custom saber, whoosh sound effects and all.
Not to mention, Disney itself sells its ownGalaxys Edge bladesfor a premium.
© YouTube Herotech
But Uy and his teams DIY lightsaber can extend and retract with just the push of a button.
Plus, it glows with voluminous light that a force-sensitive kyber crystal-power laser sword should.
Its the lightsaber every Star Wars fan has always wanted.
Photo: Jason Uy
Uy developed the concept while he was still studying at Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts.
That early lightsaber was just a box, Uy said.
Whats especially interesting about the HeroTech saber is what its using to create the extension.
Photo: Jason Uy
Uys team settled on a magicians cane, which simply unwinds and collapses but maintains its rigidity.
Gizmodo spoke to Uy at length about his project and future plans.
This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.
Photo: Jason Uy
Gizmodo:Let me guess.
Have you been into Star Wars for a while?
What made you want to make your own, and thats not the usual polycarbonate style?
Photo: Jason Uy
Jacob Uy:Oh yeah, Im a huge fan.
Ever since I was a kid.
Ive always loved lightsabers.
Photo: Jason Uy
Because, in my head, thats not the lightsaber experience.
I have respect for anybody who makes lightsabers because its hugely difficult.
Its expensive and hard.
Photo: Jason Uy
Jacob Uy:So I actually started doing this as a class project.
We asked, Why dont we build a lightsaber?
It was basically a box that used a motorized tape measure with an LED strip stuck onto it.
Photo: Jason Uy
I wanted to develop further.
Giz:How did you go a different route than Disney when designing your lightsaber?
Uy:Disney is doing something interesting.
Photo: Jason Uy
During our testing, our limitation was that we werent going to make a custom plastic just for this.
When we were testing the version with a tape measure, we found that you cant swing it around.
Giz:So, what was your solution?
Uy:We tested a bunch of different extension stuff.
We did the electric car antennas.
Theres these RC car winches as well.
I think its different from any other design thats out there.
Giz:And then you went for LED strips, right?
Uy:We wanted to use LED strips for sure.
This is when the relatively new technology of chip-on-board LED strips had just come out.
Its actually so bright you cant look directly at it.
It is probably the closest thing Ive Ive ever seen to like a real lightsaber blade.
Giz:The other big challenge seemed to be the spooling part of the design.
How did you eventually decide on a circular winch?
Then it wants to stay in that shape.
So when we tried to extend the strip, it just wouldnt extend.
Giz: What was the diameter of the handle that you guys went with?
Giz:So you might still grip it in one hand?
You said you had some other lightsabers.
Which other ones do you own?
Uy:I had a custom Saberforge blade.
Ive had one from this company called The Pach Store, and they make some pretty good stuff.
Giz:Whats the plan for when youre making the retracting lightsaber Mark Two?
Uy:We definitely want to make the hilt thinner but also make it extend and retract much faster.
The plan is to have the entire hilt made out of metal.
Thats the really interesting challenge.
Giz:How do you think youre going to make that work?
Uy:We were planning to do that from the start.
As long as we dont spin it above a certain speed, were fine.
Giz:Hows that gone so far?
Giz:You have to think its a blade made of plasma.
It should be pretty hard to look at.
Uy:It should be fricking bright.
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