Design a Robot

Designing allows you freedom to be creative and come up with new ideas - sometimes they do not turn out like you had hope and need editing but sometimes they turn out great and give you even more new ideas.

How to hold the pencil when sketching your designs

Hold the pencil at the end and keep it low and flat to sketch out your ghost lines (if you make a mistake, you can rub them out easily).

Hold the pencil in the middle to get slightly darker lines when you want to create a light outline.

Use a fine line pen to draw the outline. You should hold the pen normally as you would when writing a sentence.

Simple Example 1

Think about your robot in parts or pieces. Draw each part separately and build up the robot so that it begins to take shape.

Rendering is when you add colour. This can be done at the end after you are happy with your design sketch and when you have finished fine lining

Simple Example 2

Take time to draw each part of the robot. think about the details and pieces. The robot must be able to move, so have you added knees, elbows, ankles and hips?

Good robot designs

Pencil lines are so light we can't see them.
Fine lining is very neat with no mistakes.
Robot has different body parts.
Robot is a good shape for rendering.

Pencil lines are light and soft.
Fine lining is very neat and some dark shadows have been added.
Lots of body parts and a well planned design.
Front view, side view and back view have been shown.

Pencil lines are so light we can't see them.
Fine lining is very neat with no mistakes.
Robot has different body parts and extra details. Good planning.
Robot is a good shape for rendering.

Weak robot designs

A pencil has not been used.
The fine lining looks rushed and is not neat. Some lines do not meet or overlap other lines.

Pencil lines are very dark.
A fine line pen has not been used.
Lines are not neat and it looks messy.
Some robot parts look like a stickman design and cannot be rendered.

A pencil has not been used.
A fine line pen was used to draw everything.
Too many details.
Lots of scribbly marks.
Too many lines. Lines cannot be rendered but shapes can.

Robot ideas

Class example 1

Task 1

Design, sketch, fine line and render your own robot.

Make it look fun and be original
Add extra details
Take care when rendering and fine lining

Class example 2

Student example

Over the years, NASA has sent five robotic vehicles, called rovers, to Mars.

The names of the five rovers are: Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance.

What are the Mars rovers?

Rovers have wheels and specialize in moving around. They land on the surface of Mars and drive around to different spots.

Rovers help scientists in their quest to understand what different parts of the planet are made of. Mars is made up of lots of different types of rocks, and each rock is made up of a mixture of chemicals. A rover can drive around to different areas, studying the different chemicals in each rock. These chemicals can tell scientists something about the environments that changed that rock over time.

6x6 soil and rock rover takes samples from the ground checking for minerals and life

6x6 photography and video rover surveys and checks the landscape looking for life

Air photography drone that also checks the atmosphere for air, oxygen and gas

Rock busters dig through hard rock take samples for metals and precious stones

6x6 battery charge station allows other rovers to come and charge up their batteries

Double propellered drone to explore and scan the landscape

Long distance glider checking the landscape in far off places for water and ice

6x6 crew rover to transport astronauts anywhere they want with all their gear and equipment

This small rover can do 2 different jobs but can charge itself with the solar panels.

This rover can do 5 different jobs. it uses more power so needs more solar panels.

This rover can do 10 things. It requires more power but has highly efficient solar powers for maximum charging.

This rover can do 7 things. It is very large and heavy and needs a lot of power but is strong enough to carry extra batteries and more solar panels.

Task 2. Design and render your own rover

Think of a job that is important on Mars for a robot to do

Design a rover that could do this job well

Sketch out the main shapes and designs for your rover, including all details

Fine line your drawing

Render your drawing carefully with light, medium and dark tones

Write neatly all of the jobs that your rover can do, draw neat arrows if needed

Hard rock drill and grabber hand

Computer system

Off road wheels and suspension

Communication equipment

Student example

Modular Robots

Chairs can be rearranged or swapped for a table top. Colours and chair shapes can be changed as well.

The side table can be rearranged in different configurations to do different jobs or for it to look different.

This modular sofa-bed-cupboard can be rearranged in many different ways. It can make a sofa, day bed, night bed, cupboard, book shelf, chair and coffee table.

All the parts are the same but can be moved around and assembled in a different way.

What does modular mean?

Something is modular when it consists of two or more pieces that are easy to replace. These are usually simple objects. They can be connected together to form more complex objects. For example, Lego pieces are modular. Complex objects may by themselves be modular and used to create even more complex objects by piecing them together.

Modular robot parts show different types of arms, legs and bodies.

These 3 robots have modular body parts that can be swapped for body parts that do different jobs.

These robots and modular body parts work in the same way as LEGO. They can be swapped between any robot to make a completely new robot that can do a different job.