Adam Savage Takes Apart Star Wars' L0-LA59 Animatronic Robot!

[@tested]

This week only iFixit tools, which are backed by a lifetime guarantee, are up to 25% off! Visit ifixit.com/tested to shop, and use code CELEBRATE for free shipping on your $65 order. (*Free standard shipping valid in iFixit US/CA/AU store only. Offer ends 12/14) Star Wars L0-LA59 (Lola) Animatronic Edition: hasbropulse.com/products/star-wars-l0-la59-lola-animatronic-edition

[@GTTeancum]

Love iFixit tools. I work in IT and my kit is always either at my desk or in my backpack. GREAT stuff!

[@swordkingjedimaster003]

Dissect , Adam would you do that to a C3PO LIFESIZE TALKING DROID ACTION FIGURE FROM THE DROID DEPOT SHOP IN L A CALIFORNIA IN MGM STUDIOS L A.?

[@eldenringer6466]

I was really excited until I realised the legs dont fold up which is really lazy design. After that it was a hard pass :(

[@George-de6hd]

Did you put it all back together and it’s functional still? I’m sure you can and did ….I guess what I’m saying we’re all the parts that durable

[@George-de6hd]

And got anyone still watching this these things are on clearance at Walmart for $15 and Amazon for $17

[@christopherpike8269]

The amount of engineering put into a child’s toy is simply amazing. Kids truly don’t know how good they have it with these products.

[@ThatVideoGuyTom]

Go watch Adam's Transformers video. It's absolutely sick to see Optimus Prime transform

[@fabycho6791]

Well kids nowadays don't really play with toy so toys are just made for adults that's why you can get $400 action figures

[@adriannazies9635]

Also keep in mind the deal Disney has with Hasbro. You could almost guarantee they where given direct access to the movie files and any physical props that probably had most of the engineering and design worked out. Hasbro’s job was most likely just to find a way to turn a $10-$100,000 movie prop into a toy using the least amount of injection cast and to reduce the cost to a few dollar per unit mfg.

[@alwayscensored6871]

@@Patriotic_Eagle1995 Big kids

[@Lucien86]

​@@ThatVideoGuyTom Optimus uses exactly the opposite method. Strings of tiny servos controlled by a serial network and a sophisticated central computer board.. The company make a whole series of robots that all use the same basic system.. They are currently working on a Buzz Lightyear toy that also looks incredibly impressive.

[@aplila]

Just found this account again after being a huge fan of Mythbusters as a kid. Met Adam twice and never forgot it!! Happy to see that the person who made me love science is doing well.

[@DerexArchives]

My sisters got this for their birthday and they've loved it!

[@teddybearjedi8865]

When I was little, the first thing I did when I got a new toy, was take it apart, just like this, to See how it Worked and How it was Made. It's Great to know I wasn't the Only One who did this.

[@matthew.wilson]

PLEASE do more of these! This was fascinating, essentially distilling months of an engineering team's work into 30 minutes of the solutions. Love it!

[@ClaerisGames]

The mechanics of the motor and how it does the different sections is such simplistic genius. It reminds me of those old 'what does the cow say' toys where you pull the string, and all the dial does is select a track on a thick plastic record, yet so much more complex

[@waltermartinez5907]

You answered my question - different stand activates different modes (switches)- cool!

[@coreyennis9411]

So many of my childhood toys would have survived longer if I'd had videos like these around.

[@oddballssherman3785]

All my childhood franchises have been destroyed by idiots in Lucasfilm and Bad Robot. My childhood toys though are in perfect condition, ready to sell on ebay as I have had enough of the destruction of the last few years

[@coreyennis9411]

@@oddballssherman3785 Why would you take my nice moment and inject your poop all over it?

[@tylerhatfield3892]

perhaps your adult self is getting in its own way. when you were a kid you had no pre-conceived notions and star wars could penetrate to your deeper layers. you could ignore the corny light saber fighting and the often off-beat acting. now as an adult everything is compared to things that were seemingly "perfect", the way they were in your childhood. release yourself from comparing the new stuff to the old stuff. each new piece of star wars media is produced by vast teams of highly skilled individuals. the world is in flux. that flux is incredibly fun if you whip out a surf board and catch the wave. wishes of good fortune and fate for you comrade.

[@tekvax01]

That little slip-ring assembly is called a mode switch. they have been using this type of control in VHS VCRs for many years! It controls the transmission that drives all the cogs and assemblies. A very clever way to do a lot of things with minimal electronics! The other problem is, they are very difficult to get back into the correct position after removing them, in mid-cycle. _good luck_ putting the entire toy back together again. The mode switch must be placed in the correct orientation to be in time with the computer's logic. Once you lose that registration with the various function gearing, it will be very difficult to get everything back in sync again with the mode switch, the motor, and the software logic.

[@tekvax01]

cool toy, and a good explainer piece on how it functions. they've used this type of mechanism in VHS VCRs in order to need fewer motors, electronics, and gears to do the same functions.

[@TheRealAlpha2]

That reminds me of the editing VCRs we used to have with the dial on it that could switch the speeds of the playback from frame by frame all the way to 2X FF. We wore so many of those VCRs out using frame advance to live edit commercials out of our archived TV show tapes.

[@AlanJames1987]

I design and work on industrial robots powered by AI and this is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen.

[@oddballssherman3785]

I worry about the state of Industrial Robots in that case. Powered by AI? You must be Lucasfilms target audience. I have lost hope in the human race. We used to go to the moon, have supersonic airliners. Now a cheap Star Wars gimick impresses an AI robotics engineer. God help us

[@alecj3454]

Teddy Ruxpin came out in 1985 -- 37 years ago --- this is a minimal step forward. A couple sensors & some servos is one of the most impressive things youve ever seen? No wonder this is the extent of 40 years of technology. We need more drive & imagination as a society. I find this a lazy cash grab with zero ambition. Its an excuse to slap Star Wars on something. Its a pet rock with batteries.

[@oddballssherman3785]

@@alecj3454 Alan James most likely works for Lucasfilm. I hope so anyway, if he really does work in AI robotics we are all f**ked

[@gl15col]

@@oddballssherman3785 So, what do you do for a living?

[@AlanJames1987]

@@oddballssherman3785 Thank you for contributing.

[@Frankenstyleish]

Ahaha. I saw a video review of L0-LA last night and bought one this morning an hour ago. She's on my desk chattering away while I'm wondering what was going on inside, and thought "I should check on Tested, I bet Adam's already looked". You never disappoint.

[@JeffChaney]

Used to crack open toys when I was a kid. Never could get them back together. Love it! Added to my Amazon wish list. So cute and well engineered.

[@hernanjavines]

Love it. I really enjoyed seeing how it worked. Please do more of these.

[@0x6772]

I, for one, would like to see the follow-up video putting it back together. It seems like they keyed a bunch of these parts so the electronics should all behave correctly relative to the gearing from the motor, but there's a portion of this that's like disassembling an internal combustion motor, wherein one sets the pistons/cams to "top dead center" first so that everything can come apart and go back together in the right way.

[@harrisarts]

I could almost hear a thousand robot voices screaming out in terror, suddenly silenced. Please I hope you reassemble Lola.

[@paulbennett4548]

Thank you Lad's for this excellent tear down review. As a retired engineer and avid Robot/ Droid collector it was nice to see the combination of modern electronics, a dedicated microprocessor and an old style sequencer switch and mechanical cams and links. I have recently acquired one of these cheeky little Lola Droids and I am enjoying it immensely, we have great conversations.( I really must get out more and try talking too these humans?) and thanks again for my future reference video.

[@outsider238]

This was fascinating! I have three of these as I'm so amazed at how wonderful the animations are on this Lola. I've wondered what was on the inside and now I don't have to take mine apart to find out as I wouldn't have had the heart to disassemble her.

[@dustincameron787]

You guys are having so much fun pulling it apart. Meanwhile all I can hear in the back of my head is "There's no way I'm going to be able to put this back together and still have it work!" 😅

[@bryannorris8049]

Lowest key important thing in this video is that dry erasable parts pad from that Norm is taking notes on so they can get things back together.

[@dustincameron787]

@@bryannorris8049 They amusingly note they'll have to watch the video in reverse to put the thing back together again. I'll believe it when I see it! 😁

[@moultriemanicmechani]

I build animatronics ,and I don't see them putting it back together again . 😂

[@Tusk926]

If your kids ask if they can have one..just show them this video and tell them " Can't.. Adam killed it." 🤣🤣🤣

[@rs86]

Thanks for this video. There was a screw I forgot to label and this saved me. Interestingly enough, I was also having trouble separating the "wings" by sheer luck, I found out that it can just pop off right off of that springed, plastic bracket. After that, the main internals came off the top body easily. It was way easier than unscrewing it all while constrained in the body. ❤❤

[@kmart1396]

The way I had to watch this video as audio only, because I pack bond to Star Wars Companion Droids so quickly and personifies them. You tore apart the babyyy noooo haha!! I would not be able to survive through the visuals of you doing this to R2-D2 or BB-8 toys either.

[@roryoutdoors5431]

You guys and gals are killing it with the the daily content - thank you!!! It's really nice to have a diversion to look forward to each day, not only that it's the most fantabulous maker and mental wellness content on YT. Adam and crew keep up the great stuff! Thanks from the Great White North aka Canuckistania!

[@tested]

Really appreciate the comment - thank you!

[@TheRealAlpha2]

Adam: This is an incredibly intricate clock work toy... 'Aight, I'ma head out. Good luck putting it back together, Norm. I joke but yeah, that's a wild design for a simple little toy. You'd think it would just be three or four tiny motors and a PCB that tells them all to randomly actuate.

[@steveroberts995]

Surprisingly sturdy! Mine slipped out of my hands and fell about 4 feet onto a plank floor. Skittered upside down along the floor another 3 feet or so. Still works fine, and I couldn’t find a scratch on it!

[@carlosbovia6813]

This vid brought me back to my childhood when my Dad would be yelling at me for "breaking" my and my brother´s toys... and then be amazed when after he tried and failed I could put them back together.. I was 10 or so... later I studied engineering and graphic arts and now I do "innovative solutions", or as Adam proudly defines it " I´m a maker ".

[@RandomStuffGarage619]

My son got to hold the production sample at celebration anaheim! Then we turn around and there is Norm interviewing hasbro about the reva lightsaber (that unfortunately failed to fund). Great times!

[@Mavryk]

Imagine being the engineering team that worked so hard on making this toy, which would normally go unnoticed, and having Adam being the one to tear it down and being giddy over its design. Also, I would LOVE a Weebo like this haha.

[@chrishechtl8330]

Now I'm conflicted. On the one hand it is so satisfying to see them put something together, but now, after seeing this, it was cool seeing them tear something apart. Yes, I did that too as a kid. lol I put a Lo-la on my Christmas list rather than trying to make it. lol I wonder if someone will take a Lo-la and repaint/adapt it into a Batteries Not Included figure? I've seen the 3D prints...

[@tsurezright9001]

That's what i was thinkin', with this, it's just a very small step to make ...Batteries Not Included a part of Star Wars...

[@digitaldobbie]

Flubber comes to mind too

[@shaynecoventry8894]

Wow. Beautiful mechanics and such cool little toy. I honestly want to learn watch making now.

[@matthew.wilson]

The principles may be old, but it's amazing how much very modern tech lends itself to this kind of mechanical solution. I know Disney has software tools for automatically turning animation into cam patterns (used for Disneyland animatronics). Whether or not they collaborated with Hasbro on the technical side would be an interesting question. And then of course these days we have 3D printing, facilitating and accelerating mechanical trial-and-error in ways a 19th-century automaton designer could only dream of.

[@paulclancy4221]

I think LOLA was inspired by a Ladybug. The wings are similar. Good luck getting it back together. LMAO. I love the way the designers have not only done great animatronics, but also child-proofed it, so it's can theoretically be put back together if a child pulls off the wings etc. I'd love one of these. Genius electronics/mechanics.

[@unsoundmethodology]

The iFixit mat and tray looks very useful. I've got one of their older project mats - about the size of a mousepad, in dry-erase white - and it's very nice for keeping small (ferromagnetic) parts from wandering off. It's built very much one of those flexible fridge magnets, but with the stronger force upwards; I actually keep mine stuck, face down, on the front of the refrigerator (because my workbench is usually the kitchen counter or on top of the stove).

[@ralfsstuff]

This design is so much more complex than anything I imagined to see in a "simple" toy. I guess I can see now why these Lolas were so expensive on launch. Good thing they're always on clearance (probably didn't sell too well for $85)

[@thatverydepressedfancylad]

Disney needs to calm down, this is absoloutly hands down based off of the batteries not included robot with legs, Its kind of ridiculous how they did it but, who am I to say something Dont mean for this to be hating but love the vids great work!

[@keefeepoos]

The big challenge is to get it all back together and working again. 😂

[@RedHeadKevin]

I bet you stick most of these mechanisms and functionality into a life-sized Lothcat. I'd buy the hell out of a Lothcat that sits, tilts its head when you talk to it, meows occasionally, blinks, and moves its ears.

[@PirateJohnson]

Time to make a custom PitDriod, now.

[@BLOODKINGbro]

Roger, roger

[@kennethmikkelsen9572]

my childhood in a half hour :D thats why we cant have nice things ;) thanks for sharing

[@ZeroIkarus]

Can we find one of the persons that created or problem solved this mechanism and interview him on TESTED? It would be awesome.

[@georgemells2354]

Question: Was the engineering done by US Hasbro staff or entirely in China where it is made. Also, how do they work out the assembly process so even skilled but more likely unskilled workers can put it together so quickly?

[@awesomesauce8083]

This reminds me of the old radio shack "armitron", surprisingly only one motor controlled several degrees of movement. Wow!

[@TonyTylerDraws]

Oh I had one of those. I took it apart when it stopped working and was surprised that there was only one motor

[@Bad_Wolf_Media]

This is why we're not ready for droids for real yet. "Huh, this thing is cool! Let's rip it apart and see how it works!" 🤣

[@Bad_Wolf_Media]

And, around 7:45 or so, Adam said he loves taking apart new toys. Probably even more so when it's someone else's toy.

[@RandomStuffGarage619]

DROID RIGHTS!!!!

[@nathkrupa3463]

Very advanced robot great software work thank you so much adam sir and norm sir.

[@marktadlock5428]

Taking apart a toy to see how it works is great even better if you remember put it back together.

[@WhiskyLima]

Did anyone else see the look of panic on Norms face trying to work out how to put it back together? I joke of course :) Great video guys as always!

[@georgemells2354]

I believe that the original Furby and perhaps the later ones also operated with just one motor and a complex gearing and cam system in order to move the ears, eye lids mouth and body motion. I just bought a Lo-La59 and am even more impressed with its actions. I still think it should have a Bluetooth system to communicate with the other Disney Star Wars droids.

[@danchauvin9896]

I thought for sure that Adam was going to give all the pieces to Norm and say "there you go, put it back together". 😯

[@dotails]

This was the case for furby too. I'm surprised we are still doing this 20 years later.

[@tekvax01]

they've used this type of mechanisms in VHS VCRs in order to need fewer motors, electronics, and gears to do the same functions.

[@kira07]

that capacitor looking thing is actually a thermistor, its basically resettable fuse , a must in all kids toys, there is probably also a diode in case someone put the batteries the wrong way

[@spacepiratecaptainrush1237]

it's a genuine clockwork automata

[@roryoutdoors5431]

NORM!!! (cheers!) Automotan was my first thought too - like a little music box with cams on a rotating disk? Or a player piano! Does anyone remember James Burke going through the history of the cam/shaft/clockwork mechanisms? Connections or The Day The Universe Changed.... I need to rewatch both, again!

[@roryoutdoors5431]

a music box made of other little music boxes!

[@awandererfromys1680]

_One Day Unbuild._ Some modern toys are amazing. I remember this bts of _Labyrinth,_ one of my favorite childhood movies, and now you can have that Henson animatronics at home.

[@oldsoul5263]

Adam yelling WAKE UP.... woke me up... duuuuude! Lol

[@ozcanison]

Now put it back together in working condition! :D

[@Davedarko]

just received mine, glad I don't have to take it apart :)

[@davidbakker-wester113]

No disassemble! Johnny 5 alive!

[@waltermartinez5907]

I found that you can turn it off by turning it upside down and then back. It automatically turns off.

[@SadVIad]

These are on sale right now. Got one today because I've been wanting to make one, and I can't go build build one at the Droid Depot in Galaxy's Edge. Thinking about painting it.

[@area1084]

Super cute little robot!

[@tomhorsley6566]

How do we know if the ifixit parts holder works if you don't use it to put the toy back together? :-).

[@mcborge1]

Poor L0-LA, she never stood a chance. 😁

[@mrcat3493]

This is great engineering. I can see why the toy retailed for $90 at release; I just picked it up on clearance for $40. It is adorable. Also, did Adam misspeak at 25:26? This toy is 1:1 scale, it is not larger than the filming prop.

[@ediruiz3722]

Esta explanação da peça totalmente explodida é uma ótima referência para futuros reparos caso necessário. Grato pelo tutorial.

[@darkwinter6028]

FYI: That’s not a stepper motor; it’s just a regular brushed DC motor. A stepper would require more than two wires going to it (these days, you’ll typically find four wires, but occasionally there’s five or six and rarely three).

[@Q-and-Q]

Een I see Lola I always think of the movie “Batteries not included “

[@BigEpinstriping]

I'm into geared mechanisms like this, Like those found in old mechanical/electro-mechanical TOMY toys. Even the Furby operated in a similar fashion as this.

[@Blowinshiddup]

Shades of Johnny Five! No disassemble!......... Waiting for the "Adam tries to put it back together" episode.

[@hughgilbert390]

Reminds me of a Furby.

[@tekvax01]

"Don't turn it on, take it apart!" --- Dave Jones EEVBlog

[@HorySmokes]

The makers of Batteries Not Included should sue Disney over this design.

[@thatverydepressedfancylad]

I know what you mean, disney is slippin nowadays

[@agathacathartese7041]

That's what I thought of when I seen it

[@film79]

I always liked The director of Batteries, Matthew Robbins he also did Dragonslayer but was put in director jail after directing Bingo. Luckly Guillermo del Toro has been working with him lately and he cowrote Crimson Peak and Pinocchio.

[@billmoser2670]

I think we need a set of “batteries not included” robots too!! I would own all of them if they had them

[@thechannelofultimatedestiny]

Guys at ilm probably designed both

[@millenniumf1138]

What a wonderful video!! I really want one of these, but I'd like to take it apart so I can repaint it to make it look less toylike. This way I can disassemble it and know how it's supposed to go back together so I can repaint it without fear of gunking up the workings or getting paint on the speaker or clear plastic parts.

[@cristiancornejo]

22:37 you can see when lolas soul leaves the body .... RIP.

[@flymario8046]

incredibly cool

[@davidnguyen6823]

When I saw it for the first time, I thought it was going to a static toy, so I really wanted one to disassemble, and then paint and weather up, but considering they're $100 here in Denmark, I wasn't going to buy them right now. It's awesome to see it has movements as well, and might justify it for me

[@daz71]

Thank you for taking this apart so I didn't have to :D Now, can we fit servos, cameras and sensors to make LO-LA smarter? 🤔

[@amyanderson4522]

Omg you killed LOLA

[@scottbecker3563]

Can't buy you kids anything!!! All ways taking your toys apart... If you break it I'm not buying you another one!!!! LOL

[@danielrhodes7594]

I loved the video. So after looking at this do you feel it could be made smaller? Do you feel if it was made from a stronger material or a light weight metal that it could be cut to maybe 3/4 the size?

[@izakshuvo8434]

That reminds me of the toy seal I had as a kid which could do walk and spin on its own without any electronic chips.

[@davideckersley4240]

I imagine this is would be a similar scenario when aliens abduct humans to see how they work on the inside?

[@Indy1977TX]

Send me the parts!! Very lovely engineering, thanks for the great content Tested team.

[@jasoncutrone]

I don’t know. I think it needs some custom painting and weathering. Possibly a dark Lola version. 😉

[@RandomStuffGarage619]

Swap to a red LED like when Reva put the tracker in it...

[@Frankenstyleish]

@@RandomStuffGarage619 Ah man, thanks a lot. Now I have to go get another one and set aside time for evil lola project next weekend.

[@RandomStuffGarage619]

@@Frankenstyleish I've been called many things. "Enabler" is one of the nicer ones. 😁

[@tigershirew7409]

No disassemble! Johnny 5 is alive! GRIN

[@cameronmcarthur4044]

So she's currently around 64% off on UK and US Amazon, so I had to get her for my Mando cosplay! I'm really happy with her, and delighted at seeing how excited Adam got taking her apart, but I am a little confused about your chat on scale? The box advertises it as 1:1 scale, but Norm suggests it's as much as 50% bigger? That really confused me, but it certainly does look a little bigger, as the prop one fit in kid Leia's hand and this one barely fits in my adult hand. Just seems odd that they'd market it as such. Anyway, very happy with her, just hoping I can easily swap out the LED's for different colours, and potentially install a more accessible on/off and audio/silent buttons for it.

[@amyfrazier3318]

I said at the 30 minute mark you guys have 4 minutes to put it back together! Hahaha! 😄 🤣 Now you have to do a video putting it back together!!

[@stardustjustlikeyou]

CIRCUIT BEND IT!! Haha that'd be awesome. I'm not sure how into music is or if he's heard of circuit bending before but I think it's something he may get a kick out of learning about and seeing some of the things people have made.

[@FreddyTraxx]

Lola gets totally destryed by the end of the vid, and reprogrammed to serve the empire

[@Mhassar]

You killed her!

[@matthewcoleman8267]

Poor Norms toy will never go back together now!

[@Lucien86]

Those really tiny remote control tanks that were around a few years ago use the same trick. One motor switches the drive between forward reverse, and turn left turn right, and i think turret turn. A second motor powers the tracks and rotations.

[@ucitymetalhead]

A rc tank i have has what's called a wavebox transmission that uses a small motor to turn and a big one for foward/backwards.

[@jeffthorson625]

fascinating and I didn’t think you would reassemble it. I think there would be a new video putting it on stanchions of the breakdown. I think that would be a cool one day build of the breakdown of this toy list and they display case

[@billywilliams3238]

Hey Adam, Wouldn't it be cool to make a Lola out of a small or even larger 4 or 6 bladed drone. Could even be programmable . Just an idea. Love the show. Thanks Scooter

[@baKanale]

How many parts do you think they had left over after they put L0-LA back together?

[@darrylmasters5032]

I so wanna see the rebuild!!

[@JonathanMorley]

Immediately made think of one of the robot characters from the movie, "Batteries Not Included"

[@zackmorrison470]

Very cool!

[@e.t.1277]

Am I the only one who heard Johnny 5 go `DISASSEMBLE?!’ 😂

[@sandyvalentin3072]

Cool video… But I wanted to see Adam put it back together 😁

[@Brigand231]

I immediately thought of the movie "Batteries not Included".