In a basement far, far away from Columbus is a Jedi with a dream. "My robot is aluminum and steel," says Josh Montgomery. Not just any robot, but perhaps the most beloved of the Star Wars films.

While it is fun to get toys that look like your favorite science fiction props, it is less fun when the electronics in them don’t measure up to the physical design. [Steve Gibbs] took a Hasbro R2D2 ...