I slid the sensor under the letter L in CHILD. Place it anywhere really.

Think Mod Couple or Mod Father would make this?

Actually, I moved it under the C insert. The L insert gets some ambient light from the spotlight that turns on and shines on the upperplayfield, triggering Grogu when he shouldn't. The C insert on the far left is shaded by some metal.

It is really straight forward to make yourself. Order the doll, take it apart (easy) and dremel/cut the lower half of his body. Tap two wires, screw him together and some basic wiring following the steps.

We use this type of an interactive setup for many of our mods. I don't have a grogu to mod, but if people want the wiring bundled so all they would have to do is make the connection to Grogu and plug it into the game, we could provide that setup. I would provide bare wires to connect to Grogu, you'd just have to make that connection with basic soldering or whatever method you choose. I didn't see anyone else say they were making a bundled set up, but if someone else is doing it, happy to rescind my offer as I don't want to infringe on anyone. If anyone is interested, just PM me.

As the original modder stated, I think there is room for a more complex mod - like one that does different things based on what's happening in the game.

It can be DIYed for sure, but you should solder the wires on to the photo sensor board and not use those screw terminals as they often come loose. You also have to solder wires on to the regulator board and connect it to the photo sensor board (again with solder not screw terminals) as well as setting it to the proper voltage. Totally doable diy, but you really should have an understanding how all the wiring works as it is very easy to screw things up and either blow up grogu, fry your photo/regulator boards and/or cause an issue with the game. That is not meant to scare anyone, just be careful with the connections and make sure they are right, ask questions if you aren't sure. If you aren't comfortable with it, I am offering help.

Just watched the video, and I'm SO impressed. Even with Grogu just sorta randomly reacting to lights and not really interacting with the ball, this mod adds so much life to the game. So cool. This is definitely a must have. Great work everybody.

This is the one you used right?

EF787FEE-33E2-47CB-B229-C34DC144DBF2 (resized).jpeg

why not trigger it off the "Child" insert on the left orbit? In your video, looks like the letters are more active so you get more movement and maybe that’s why it’s better to use one of them?

Yeah and once you get one, you’ll think, keep that one and get another one for the game. Then when it arrives, you’ll get ‘em both talking at the same time and once you see them both doing the force move at the same time, they become “the twins.” Can’t break them up so you think about getting a third one, for the game.

Exactly what I did.

I just randomly picked an insert without thinking about ambient light from flasher, etc.

And that's what is great about the mod. Connect it to where YOU want it to activate and not worry about where anyone else prefers their settings.

Modded a grogu for my game today. Instructions by Acejedi were excellent. I went slow and methodical and it was fine. One area to emphasize is removing his left arm, the one that moves. Take a good pic before you take it off and pay attention to the orientation. The instructions mention this, but it’s worth repeating.

Mounting him is definitely a challenge. I could not get full motion for his left arm because the center ramp obstructs the upswing. I get some movement, but not the full range. You also have to mount him low enough so his head doesn’t hit the glass channel and forward enough so his head doesn’t hit the back board and has full range of motion. His right ear barely touches the side board. It’s a bit fiddly, but you definitely can get him in. He also fits snug enough so you don’t need any physical mounting brackets.

All in all, it’s a great addition to the game!

7D2FA220-2F39-453D-A2DD-6C93B5FC5D85 (resized).jpeg

Did you keep him running at 12v or convert down to 5v?

With everyone wanting to do this mod, I better buy him soon before they are all gone.

5v. It runs off 3 AA, which is just 4.5v, I probably should lower the voltage just a tad more down to 4.5v.

On clearance at Best Buy. A lot of Star Wars stuff is in their small toy section. But even then, I think it was the same price as Amazon.

The grogus on Amazon are about $55 shipped, says 13 left in stock.

This wasn’t my idea by any stretch so I don’t want to infringe on anyone who might be offering this as a mod, not sure if Acejedi is, but I’m willing to put a kit together for people if they want it since I have stock of all the materials needed EXCEPT the grogu. You would be responsible for purchasing the grogu and either sending it to me or having it shipped directly to me.

If anyone is selling this as a packaged mod, please let me know and I’ll rescind this offer and you can have the business. It’s not something I really want to be doing because it’s pretty time consuming and my time is pretty limited these days, but it is pretty cool so if people want it, I’ll do it.

If you are interested, pm me.

Is it the one that is 7.2 inches tall with the pendant?

Just placed my order with Amazon, once my Wife sees it, I'm afraid she might not let me do the necessary surgary.

Yes, that’s the one,

I think AceJedi was planning to put together wiring kits to shave a bunch of steps off the installation. Not exactly what you're offering, but he was planning to put together a second piece to basically make the entire installation a two ingredient recipe (Grogu + wiring kit). Last I heard he was getting pretty close to having those ready to go, but I don't wanna speak for him.

Until we figure out a way to have it integrated with various events within the game I decided a standalone mod was a better option. I followed acejedi's guide for the surgery but then i simply extended the battery box to the front of the cabinet where i will add an additional on/off switch. For activation i soldered a wire to the touch sensor plate and ran it to the front of the cabinet and looped it around the flipper button. When you place your hand near the left flipper button grogu comes alive pretty randomly and has the factory programing routines and sounds.

Quick video I took as soon as i got it working:

Does that also work when you tap 3 times so that he will do the force move?

I have seen him do the force move on occasion, I cant get him to do it reliably though.

Looks great. Did you remove the touch sensor from the head and move it to the flipper?

Left the sensor where it was and just soldered an additional wire to it.

Don’t think I posted this from my game. For those who are making their own and for those I’m making it for, notice how he fits. No mechanical mount, he just fits snuggly in that area. The trick is to keep his head from hitting the glass channel and the backboard. Only his left arm moves and it won’t have full range of motion because of the ramp, but it’s still pretty good movement. Such a cool mod when playing, really does add a lot to the game.

Does it go thru all of its animations?

If lermods followed the acejedi guide and wired directly to the motor then no.

I went with a small 3d printed post that screws to the backboard and into the childs back. (You can see it in my video) I noticed after about 20 games our so he began shifting out of place without it. I could have just been the way i cut mine not sure.

Moves his head back and forth, closes/opens his eyes, raises/lowers his hand, moves his ears. The sound is removed, but you won’t really hear it during gameplay anyway.

So far so good on mine remaining in place. Easy enough to add a bracket if needed or You could also use a couple of long screws to go through the mounting holes for the stock grogu into the back of the new grogu.

I started taking a part grogu yesterday and I wonder if you take the speaker output wires from Grogu and clip them to the speakers in the cabinet if the Grogu sounds would be heard during play.

I’m not an audiophile, but I wouldn’t do that and doubt it would work. Probably blow the speaker in grogu at a minimum.

I would remove grogu speaker and take output to cabinet.

Modders are going to make this happen!!

If Grogu's actions/sounds are synched with audio cues in the game, one could sample the audio and mix it with the .wav in pinball browser. Essentially merging his fx into the game.

Is this method simple enough for a noob to do (with electronics) or would I need a pinball repairman to help. Thanks!

Anybody with this mod installed (with sensor on the Child insert on the orbit) able to share how he behaves during attract mode? I’d prefer he do next to nothing in attract mode tbh. Im guessing the light show probably causes him to stutter as the light quickly turns on/off for a fraction of a second.

Maybe an appropriately sized capacitor on the light sensor would filter out quick flashes like that?

Here is quick ball one demo of the alt mod.

If you follow the directions presented by acejedi, you might be able to do it yourself. Depends on your skill level as it does require soldering. I do it a little differently than the instructions as I solder wires directly to the boards and don’t use the terminal screws. I also use a different regulator. It really depends on how comfortable you are with it. I’ve offered the wiring set up, just pm me.

Modding grogu isn’t bad, just go slow and follow the directions, which are very clear. The trickiest part is reattaching his left arm so just take pics and remember the position the arm was in when you took it off. I also solder wires off the motor rather than use the wire crimps acejedi shows as it’s a better connection.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say it’s maybe a 5 or a 6. If you aren’t sure about something, ask questions here or pm me, happy to help.

He will move any time that insert is lit, it will be in a somewhat halting manner when it flashes.

That’s what I figured. I’ll try putting a few different sized caps across the photoresistor and see how that goes.

So, you put the sensor underneath the playfield, and cable tied it near the left Child Insert? Also, how did you mount Grogu. Can you attach any pics of how you mounted him??
Thank you.

I took a different approach. Check the linked video a few posts up for a quick showcase. If you look closely in that video you can catch a glipse of 2 inch 3d printed block i made to mount grogu to the backboard.

This is the post:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/grogu-modding-thread/page/2#post-6495308

Can’t really tell what’s triggering his movement, seems random. What have you triggered it off?

Edit: just saw your earlier post.

...

You can mount grogu with a couple of long screws to go through the stock mounting holes and into the new grogu’s back. 3” drywall screws, for example, may work. Personally, haven’t tried it as mine isn’t moving, but this is what I’d try first. I’m sure there are other creative ways to keep him in place. You just have to make sure his head can move properly.

I just sent you a Pm

Joe(acejedi)

Joe please can you post here once your kit is ready? Cheers.

Works well enough for me. Thanks Joe!

AF5E5BE9-E266-4FA5-BA71-CB1FBDA6F8AC (resized).jpeg

C397569B-B6A4-4BB7-8442-9D45B3E9889D (resized).jpeg

I just got my kit from Joe. I had the Grogu prepped and ready. The kit took me about 20 minutes to install and its well worth it!
Thanks JOE Acejedi