Idea generation
Initially I was drawn towards the sci-fi and fantasy themes as they felt like an opportunity to be more creative. However I did sketch rough idea outlines for all the themes.
Mind map exploring sci-fi and fantasy ideas
Research for the fantasy beauty/corruption carnivorous plant
Research for the chosen robot design.
Based on the research I decided to choose my sci-fi dystopian robot idea.
I sketched a few ideas for different looks for a robot design using the research images and by imagining what would be used to make a robot in a sci-fi dystopian environment. The robots bodies are supposed to be made out of storage boxes.
The is the first robot i sketched after researching. It’s body is made out of a clear plastic storage container so the internal mechanics would be visible. It’s legs are inspired by the real life Boston Dynamics robot with wider claw feet to suit it to less flat terrain as my sci-fi dystopian environment is a cabin in the mountains. It has a smiley face spray painted on its front by the scavenger who created it as they live alone in a post apocalyptic world and would use the robot asset for company. It also has a camera attached that would rotate so it can see its surroundings.
I didn’t choose this design as I found it less aesthetically pleasing than the others. However I do think it suits the theme of a dystopian environment very well as it looks more like its built from scrap than the others.
This is the second robot design I created. It moves using tracks and wheels inspired by the first two robot images from my research. Again it has the spray painted smiley face to show the character of the person who built it. It has two cameras that look like snails eyes and a screen to display a digital mouth for it to form facial expressions.
This third robot design was an attempt to make a smaller, cuter robot like the second and third from my research. It has a small antenna on its head inspired by the last research image and has small round legs inspired by the third robot. It has a mechanical arm to make it seem more capable of functionality so it would have purpose in a dystopian world.
This final design is the one I decided to develop further. Its body is made of a plastic or metal storage box with a screen for an eye display and below it a camera so it would actually be bale to see. Its legs are attached to a central object that is then attached to the body which is inspired by the third research robot. Its extra arm would be used for collecting scrap that it could drag around in the cart it is pulling.
Design Development
The first development I made to this design was to change the bodt shape from being just rectangular to a raised back corner inspired by the last research robot.
These sketches are exploring how the legs would be built as i wanted to make sure it looked practical while maintaining the cute appearance I intended. So the rounded shapes became shells that covered the inner mechanics of the legs. I explored whether these shells would sit on just the from or wrap around and in my final design decided they would wrap around.
While designing the final version of the leg I decided to use basic extruded and stretched cubes to keep the internal parts low poly as they would not be an important focal point of the robot.
I explored variations on the shape of the face screen trying ovals against rectangles with rounded corners and decided on the rectangular screen. I also sketched light screens with dark eyes and dark screen with light eyes and different shapes for the actual eyes. The light screen would be a dull grey like a calculator screen whereas the dark screen would be more like a tablet screen with emissive eyes. I chose to go for a darker screen with glowing eyes as it felt like it fit the sci-fi theme more as it would look more high tech and in the world could be created by repurposing a tablet.
I also ended up scrapping the extra arm as it didn’t fit as well with the aesthetic of the robot.
Justifying it as a centre piece
This asset can be a centre piece because due it being a working robot with a screen to allow it to have facial expressions it could be a character and not just an object. It also draws attention through it’s cute design and encourages empathy for it.
The robot also shows the personality of the person who created it allowing it to be a vessel for story-telling through its design and its purpose as it could’ve been created as a companion and not just a machine.
How is the asset unique through the use of the themes
I think its unique for a robot to be from a sci-fi dystopia instead of utopia. Instead of the robots being a product of large companies or teams of engineers made for the progression of society, this robot is created after the collapse of society in isolation almost as a response to the collapse to stave off loneliness.
References
Fig. 1 – Musat (n.d.) Whiet Cyclamens [Photograph] Available online: https://pin.it/gdwMSvR [Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig. 2 – Heller, M (2001) Pacific Sea Nettle Jellyfish [Photograph] Available online: Photo of a Pacific Sea Nettle Jellyfish (photokaz.com) [Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig. 3 – HGTV (n.d.) Carnivorous plants for home gardeners [Photograph] Available online: Pinterest [Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig. 4 – SneakySoundz (2013) The Flesh-eating Plant [Digital artwork] Available online: Steam Community :: :: The Flesh-eating plant [Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig. 5 – Cthulhusaurus-rex (2013) Triffid, Available online: Triffid by Cthulhusaurus-Rex on DeviantArt [Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig. 6 – Watt, C. A. (2016) “Mack and the other #recore robots” [Digital Artwork] Available Online: ᴄᴀʟᴜᴍ ᴀʟᴇxᴀɴᴅᴇʀ ᴡᴀᴛᴛ on Twitter: “Mack and the other #ReCore robots (2013) Great fun doing these with @motorraccoon and @ArmatureStudio #gorilla https://t.co/uTPGgBat8z” / Twitter [Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig.7 – Blyzniuk, Y. (2019) Robots, Available online: Robots on Behance [Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig. 8 – Lecourt, P. (2019) Zobbie [Phototgraph] Available online: Zobbie : un petit robot Raspberry Pi à 6 pattes (minimachines.net)[Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig. 9 – @einikis-art (2018) logistics [Digital Art] Available online: (129) Pinterest [Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig. 10 – Tween, M. (2018) robot is lost | PODOLSKI prototype [3D asset] Available online: ArtStation – robot is lost | PODOLSKI prototype [Accessed: 28/02/23]
Fig. 11 – Boston Dynamics (n.d.) Spot [Screenshot] Available online: Spot® – The Agile Mobile Robot | Boston Dynamics [Accessed: 07/05/23]