Not a lot of thought went into the “mouse droid” in the first Star Wars movie. It was just a bit of cute world-building, created by putting a box on an RC car. But it became a fan favorite and that in-universe model, the MSE-6, appears throughout subsequent movies, TV shows, and video games. All of them, however, are identical. Cass, the maker behind Chaos Theory, imagined how mouse droids would actually fit into the world and the result is this MSE-6 that knows how to party.

According to the lore, billions of MSE-6 droids were built. For those living in the Star Wars universe, they wouldn’t be any more special than toasters or Huffy bicycles. It is only natural that individuals in that universe would customize mouse droids and Cass’ creation is an exploration of the kind of personalization that Sabine Wren would perform.

For those who aren’t deep into Star Wars lore, the simpler explanation is that this is an adorable mouse droid capable of navigating autonomously and features blinky lights, a radical paint job, and a rave mode. In that mode, it turns into a graffiti-covered mobile party machine that spins around while blasting music and flashing its lights.

Underneath the 3D-printed shell in that iconic shape, this is an Arduino UNO Rev3-controlled rover robot. It has a pair of motors, which the Arduino controls through an L298N driver. Power comes from a 7.4V lithium battery pack, with a buck converter to reach 5V. An ultrasonic sensor prevents collisions and the sound plays through a DFPlayer Mini MP3 module. Finally, arrays of 5mm red LEDs provide visual flair.

That all came together thanks to Cass’ fantastic paint job. She explains her inspiration, thought process, and supplies, but the great results are mostly attributable to her artistic talent. It is exactly the kind of mouse droid that Sabine Wren would adopt. 

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