I have in my mind two scenes. One is from my childhood, in my grandfather’s workshop. I remember watching the demonstration of a toy crane made to entertain my big brother. It could lift things and carry them to another location. My grandfather (an aircraft and camera designer) had made it from bits and pieces, and it was about 80 cm tall. It had a little electric motor and small control box.
The second scene is an early scene from the very first Star Wars movie, where R2-D2 and C-3P0 are sold second-hand by Jawas to Luke Skywalker, the young hero who specialises in fixing droids to help his uncle’s agricultural business. While fixing the droid, he discovers a message from one Princess Leia, which…