DylanPeters-UCA-Year2

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Project Evaluation

My project proposal allowed me to keep sight of my original objective which was to create a 3D printed character design that would allow someone who would use that design to see it from all angles and thus get a better idea of how it would look when it was completed.

Due to time restrictions however, I haven’t had the chance to do the 3D model in full colour. This is partly due to a lack of time to learn how to use the new printer, and partly because the new printer arrived near the end of the course. Most of my research has been based around modern day machinery as the theme I was going for with the design of my character was a sci fi robot that had modern aspects. This research has influenced my final designs for the character, making it a sci fi character with some modern aspects.

 I think that over the course of this project, I have researched a good range, going from robotic characters in films and games, to actual modern day technology and real sculptures. I do think that I should have probably tried to gain more primary research as my research is almost entirely secondary. I have also done research on various kinds of 3D printing including different methods of polymer printing and metal printing. I have continued to update my bibliography throughout the course of the project as my original bibliography was quite small. The bibliography has helped when I have gone to update pieces of research as I had sources for that research recorded and so they were easy to find.

 Over the course I have expanded my bibliography due to research that was done later in the project. This was mainly due to the research on the various methods in which to 3D print. Aside from this, new concept art was released for certain games that I thought could relate quite well to my project. I started this project with an idea for creating a physical 3D model based on concept designs that could be used by people to get a better idea of how my character would actually look from any angle. I have managed to stick to this idea throughout the project with only a few small changes to my original idea, namely having to make the model monotone rather then full colour. I feel like my final piece is a good translation of the concepts I have created. The final design was made using elements of several character designs I have done throughout the project.

 Throughout the project I have made various posts on my blog explaining the development of things such as the 3D model of the character as well as each of the different designs I have created for this project. There is also a post about the final design which is a blend of aspects from the previous designs. For most of my designs, I used fine liner to do the outline of the character, and coloured it using a mix of felt tip and watercolour paints. These were done on silhouettes of people that were made using the whiteout technique. Aside from this, there was also the final design which was done digitally using photoshop. Lastly there is the final piece which was created using 3D printed polymer.

 Over the course of the project, I have done evaluations either every week or every few weeks. These evaluations summarised all work that I have done since the last evaluation and also included images of various pieces of work as well as what I was planning to do next week.

I have tried to respond to critique and advice when I can. This has mostly been based around my written work which I am trying to improve. I have also tried to be more in depth with the work I post to my blog as there was very little on there towards the middle of the project.

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Final Week: Evaluation

Overall, most of this final week has been based around doing various small pieces of unfinished work as well as doing written work. Aside from that, I have also updated my blog with a post about the final design that my 3D print was based on.

As for the written work this week, I have completed my critical review as well as my remaining referral work from the previous project. There isn’t really much else to say about this week as it was mostly dedicated to finishing and cleaning up various bits of work.

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Concept: Final

The pictures above and below are my final designs for the 3D printed model. While I won’t be able to add the colour into the final design, these digital drawings show the shape of the robot that I am going for. It is a blend of several different previous designs. Most of it comes from the first design, while the hands come from Knight design and the head comes from the Brute design. These were made using Adobe Photoshop. I did think about adding more detail to the shading of the design but in the end I thought that keeping it simple would make it easier to convert into a 3D model to print.

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CNC

Milling: 

Milling is a kind of CNC in which a machine will use a rotating cutting tool to remove material from a block of material or from an existing object to create or modify an object. This is commonly used to create various custom parts that you cannot normally buy from a market. The tool is moved on the X, Y and Z axis based on instructions from a computer.

Lathes: Lathes are a machine that rotates an object around one axis while surrounding it with cutting tools which are held in position. Using CAD/CAM, people can design an object that the lathe will then automatically cut out. These machines are usually used for making symmetrical objects repetitively. Because of this, you can give it an object to make and with little to no supervision, it will continue to make this object over and over again on its own.

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3D printing: Metal

Metal 3D printing usually works by using metal dust. The machine will drop the dust along a plate, flatten it down into a layer and use a laser to fuse the metal particles together. This process allows a company to make specialised parts that they could not manufacture normally, as well as test prototype parts. on top of that, unlike normal metal manufacturing methods, only the needed material is used, the rest is swept back into the machine to be used again later. There are problems with this system however. Firstly, everyone operating them has to either wear a respirator or set up a system to ventilate the machine. the second issue is that some of these metals are combustible and that makes the machine sometimes be prone to catching fire. The third problem with this system is that the supports used to print the model are often welded to the object and must be cut off by hand. Finally this process is usually very slow.

Recently there has been a major advancement in metal 3D printing however as a company called Desktop metal has produced a machine that can accurately and cheaply produce objects far faster then the next best system. It is supposedly capable of making objects in minutes that other machines produce in hours.

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3D printing: Polymer

Polymer 3D printers take an object that has been designed in a 3D program and proceed to print it, usually by using a nozzle that trails lines of plastic on top of each other to create layers. This kind of printer will also usually make the object hollow for the most part, however they have diagonal lines running through the model to reinforce it. There are also some newer printers that are able to print in full colour. 

Home printer:

Home 3D printers are small printers that can essentially just be plugged in and used at home. They can usually print small objects, a bit smaller then an A4 sheet at most, and often cost around £400 for a cheap one and about £3000 for a high quality printer. Generally the price difference pays for increased accuracy, speed and reliability for the printer. The more expensive it is, the closer the resulting object will be printed to your 3D model.

Industrial printer:

Industrial printers are generally very expensive, but they are also extremely accurate, fast and can print much larger objects and components then the home versions. 

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Research: Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics are one of the worlds leading robotics companies. Over the past few years they have made robots for multiple different things, including quadruped robot that can run over 30 miles per hour and a biped robot that can do backflips and roam unassisted on rough terrain. Many of these robots are capable of moving and doing pre programmed tasks on there own without someone directly controlling them. They do this using a rotating sensor built into the head of the robot which scans the environment around it and checks the distance between the robot and objects in the environment. It can also recognise QR codes and do certain actions based on them. For example if it sees a certain QR code on a door, it will walk to the door and open it, if it sees a certain QR code on a box, it will move the the box and lift it up, then take it to a shelf marked with another QR code. These robots use a bunch of different methods to enable movement, such as motors, pneumatics, hydraulics and many others.

On of the other robots can recognise objects, figure out how far they are, how tall they are and where the robot needs to be to jump over that object. it will then adjust it’s strides so that its legs are in the correct position to jump just as it reaches the object. After the jump it will usually do small hops for a few strides to get it’s balance back.

All of these are modern robots that I think will work as a great influence for my designs as mine are meant to be a bit ahead of modern robots but still having plenty of modern and utilitarian elements to them. 

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Research: Robot Wars

Robot Wars is a British TV program from BBC. The idea for this program is to get two teams of engineers with varying skill and see who can build the best remote controlled robot to fight with. Over the course of the program, the teams have come up with far better robots, using newer technology and having more experience. Generally robots are made in one of a few set ways.

Rammers are built with very powerful drives allowing them to push or ram into enemy robots.

Flippers are built with a plate mounted on top of a pneumatic shunt. The pneumatic shunt moves with a lot of power, extremely quickly allowing the robot to flip other robots out of the arena or onto their backs.

Spinners are usually built in one of four ways. They can be built so that the whole robot spins, with a large heavy disc that has a claw jutting out (this used to be the strongest type) with a saw blade or with a heavy metal bar that spins. 

crushers use a slow moving hydraulic system to crush other robots. only a few of these have ever actually been able to damage enemy robots though, the image above being one which was made with a sharp tip allowing it to pierce armour.

Axe/hammers use an axe or a hammer mounted on a pneumatic shunt which throws the hammer down onto enemy robots.

Robots in robot wars have also progressively improved there armour with robots like Carbide using armour that’s angled in such a way that it can deflect attacks from other robots without having to make the armour too heavy.

The angled armour and the use of pneumatics for fast movement and the hydraulics being used for slow, strong movements are something I  would like to incorporate into my drawn designs for my characters.

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Evaluation: Week 6

Most of this week was dedicated to finishing up character designs. This ranged from writing notes to do new colour schemes for them. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the character designs and I have used various small details from most of the designs in the final 3D model. While most of the design is based on the first concept, the hands are based on the ‘Knight’ concept and the calfs and head are a mix of the first concept and the ‘Brute’ concept. As for the 3D model, I have managed to complete a static model for it and I should be able to print and paint it next week. Assuming I have enough time, I will hopefully be able to choose a colour scheme and paint the finished 3D printed model which will add a lot to showing how this character would have looked in a game. One thing I really need to do still though is research. I am planning to do research on ‘Anselm Kiefer’ and on ‘Boston Dynamics’.

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Evaluation: Week 5

My main focus this week was to get my 3D print closer to completion. Above was my progress on Thursday in which I got around to making the arms for the robot as well as adding some small details on the robot (not visible in the screen cap). The screen capture below is my progress on Saturday, in which I have now added the legs of the robot. I have made sure to keep the sections of the model separate so that I can print the robot in pieces. This means if something in the print goes wrong, I only have to print that particular part again rather then the whole model. This is drawn from experience in year one where two of my 3D prints did not print correctly.

So far I am pretty happy with my progress on 3D printed model, however, I think I should be doing more research to accompany this and try to link more of my research to the development of the project.

This week I have also finished my 4th character design. The designs have already been posted. This new design is based on Warhammer 40k and influences were drawn from medieval knight armour.

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Easter Evaluation

During the Easter holiday, I began work on my 3D model using Fusion 360, which was Based on The drawing you can see below. The head however, is based on a different design. For the majority of this model so far, I have used the sketch, extrude and chamfer tools which had allowed me to create the angles of the model. I have decided that I would get the general shape of the model complete before adding details however as some would be difficult to place correctly without the limbs to use as a guide. I have also created 2 new designs, the evaluations of which are in earlier posts.

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Evaluation: Concept 4 ‘Knight’

This is the 4th character design for this project. This time around I decided to try and mix the modern industrial style with medieval knight armour, an idea I got from Warhammer 40k. This version was meant to look a bit more ornate than the other designs as it is intended as a kind of elite guard. Below are the notes for this particular concept. This type would have been built out of sturdier components and materials so that it could take more hits then the other types in game. It would also have stronger hydraulics and pneumatics which would allow it to move much faster.

Below is the military design for this robot which would have been dedicated to defending vip’s in rough terrain such as a jungle. Like all of the military designs, this ones armour colours were based on World War 2 tank armour.

This version of the knight is intended as a Royal guard and so is built to be stronger then the other types. The armour is gold plated with electrolysis to cover the metal it is made of as it’s armour is a cut above the over Knights. These particular versions of the knights would be able to take far more hits in game while having the same running speed as a standard knight, but also the tactic of firing it’s pneumatics when it fires it’s weapons to counter recoil similar to the brutes.

These concepts were drawn using fine liner and the colour schemes were painted using water colour.

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Evaluation: Concept 3 ‘Riot Control’

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Evaluation: Concept 2 ‘Brute’

Brutes were designed to look relatively similar to the standard robots from the first concept but bulkier, tougher and heavier. They have similar flat and angled armour to the first design and follow a similar utilitarian style. They have more armour and so they also have less exposed weak points and the few weak points they have are reinforced. They have more shock absorbers in them to help counter kick from the high power weapons they will usually carry in game and they have stronger pneumatics then the standard robots which they will fire at the same time as their weapon to further counter recoil. The brutes also have a rangefinder built into their helmet to allow them to use sniper rifles without a spotter or having to carry extra equipment. Below are the notes for this robot which include a note about the robot having angled armour. In the series ‘Robot Wars’ (see the research in a later post), the robots people build often use angled armour as it serves to deflect hits from weapons rather then just block it. These robots will occasionally be used for lifting and carrying and so they have reverse knees and sharp toes that can dig in to the ground. 

Below is the first colour scheme and continues to use the military colours of the first character design. The Brute design uses far more armour plating then the Standard Design, however the larger red eye and abundance of other red parts will stick out slightly. This is supposed to be countered by it’s ability to fight at longer ranges.

Below is similar to the previous design however it is a robot that has been discarded. After being damaged or having reached the end of it’s effective lifespan it was thrown away and eventually rebuilt out of scrapped components. For example the right (his right) arm and most of the helmet panels have been replaced with parts that were still painted with the factory colour scheme. Most of the robot has also become rusted and weakened. Fighting this model in game will usually be far easier then fighting a fully maintained military or factory version. 

These were painted using felt tip pen and watercolour paint, while the outline was done using fine liner.

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Research: Industrial Robot

Industrial robots are used in the modern day to perform various tasks, usually repetitive and without the need for a human to control it by following very precise, pre-programmed movements. They can achieve these movements by using hydraulics. As you can see in the image above, there are pipes leading from point to point on the robot which are filled with a fluid and are controlled by valves. The reason this is interesting for my project is that I want to make my character concept using realistic components, for example, placing pipes on the design so that the robot looks as if it uses hydraulics to walk. I am also planning to make my design look as if it uses pneumatics as well so that it appears to have a method for fast and slow movement.

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Research: I Robot

The robots in I Robot are designed to look far more human than in the other media that I have talked about on the blog. They have been designed to look as if they have muscles to allow them to move and they have much more curved plates to make them look more organic. On top of this they have human faces. While this sort of design isn’t quite what I am looking to make, I do like the movement being based on actual human muscle structures. I Think I will do a design similar to the I Robot designed. 

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Evaluation: Concept 1

Above is the initial outline for a robot character design and below are the design notes for said character. I have tried to make the design realistic by using real parts. For example, there are pneumatic pistons on the robot to allow it to move. There are also ball joints and rotating joints on the robot so that it can move in a relatively similar way to a human. The back of it’s legs have shock absorbers which was an idea from Elysium as some of the robots in that film had shock absorbers to help with landing. There are also a few notes about making the 3D model as well as notes on what a real one would look like.            These robots are intended to be a mid quality and price robot and so the components used are generally not particularly advanced (hence the use of modern industrial parts to move). They are, however, able to be used for a variety of different jobs ranging from combat to construction and there are various models represented by colour that are useful for different jobs.

Below is one of the colour schemes for the robot. It is meant to be a military version of it which is why it’s using green armour plates with mud on the calfs. I used watercolour paints for the armour, visor, red joints and mud. I also used grey felt tip pen on the pistons as well as various metal structure parts of the robot. This design is intended to work as a soldier and so it is meant to be able to work in harsh conditions, hence the mud on it.

Below is another colour scheme for a robot that would be designed to guard a group. Because of this I used purple felt tip pen to draw a sigil on the chest. Similar to the last colour scheme, I mostly used watercolour paints and grey felt tip pen however this time I also used purple felt tip pen for the sigil, pneumatics and visor. This version of the robot was designed to appear far more ornate than the other designs since it is meant to guard people or groups with status. unlike the infantry version, it is not meant to leave civilised areas and so it is not very resistant to harsh environments however it can take more hits than the infantry version. The blue paint is also to show that it’s armour is made of a different material then standard.