The lightsaber is arguably essentially the most iconic fictional weapon in movie historical past. Sure, it’s only a sci-fi sword. However a lightsaber is a lot cooler than that might indicate. And an enormous cause for the world’s fascination with lightsabers is the superior extension and retraction impact. However it isn’t potential to recreate that in the actual world — at the least not with mild alone. So hobbyists, fans, and cosplayers provide you with methods to simulate the impact, and Marb might have developed essentially the most modern methodology with this hydraulic lightsaber impact.

The objective, in fact, was to make a cylinder of sunshine prolong from the deal with to a predetermined size, like a lightsaber in a Star Wars movie. A standard approach to obtain that’s with a telescoping translucent tube that slides into the hilt when the lightsaber is off. However Marb’s method is far more fluid — as a result of it depends on fluid.

When Marb’s lightsaber activates, a syringe pumps liquid glycerin right into a clear tube. A small laser shines blue mild into the glycerin, which refracts and scatters the sunshine. The result’s what seems to be a cylinder of glowing blue mild that extends from the deal with. Although we do have to make use of some selective imaginative and prescient to disregard the clear tube till the lightsaber is turned on.

To pump the glycerin from a reservoir into the tube, Marb modified a big syringe with 3D-printed mounts to work with a linear actuator. Because the linear actuator extends, it pushes on the syringe and forces the fluid into the tube.