Initial Ideas

For my initial idea, I felt like going for a generic robot look with the basic square arms and legs. I experimented around in Photoshop with basic shapes and sizes of robotic parts. I Googled different robot shapes and took inspiration from numerous pieces of art, and eventually came up with this.

The main colour scheme for this robot is a generic black and white/grey look. Many of the robots I looked at on the internet were mainly black and white with not much colour, so I adapted this into my own idea. I also went further to create shadows and tone on the robot, as well as a texture on the surrounding area, so it looked like the robot was in a metallic environment.

The second idea I experimented with was fairly different to the first one, as I began experimenting with different colours and shapes. First of all, I shrunk down the arms and legs and made them more structured, like a robot. I felt as the first idea was too round and soft, so I went for the more generic blocky look of a robot. To add more detail, I took copyright free textures from the internet and incorporated them onto the base of my robot,..

Robotic Arm

I created this image in Photoshop as part of the Photoshop Experiments section of my project. I found a basic image of an arm on Google and threw it into Photoshop. I then gathered various materials from Google such as wires and metal fences and placed them into the document as well.

I started off creating a cut of the arm, overlaying it in black, and adding the metal fence texture onto it. I manipulated the image so it fits onto the cut out of the arm - I did the same with a wire texture.

I moved on by finding a picture of a wire on Google, pasting it onto my document, and using the warp tool to move it into position with the veins in the arm, to make it look like the whole arm was robotic and made of wires.

Robotic Joints

I designed these robotic joints in Photoshop using inspiration from robotic parts and materials. It gives me and idea of how the robot will move and the different joints of it. I will consider implementing these joints into my own robot as part of my project.

Robot Photoshop Experiment

This experiment started off with a rough sketch and a silhouette of the basic shape of the robot. As you can see, the robot walks on four legs and crawls like a spider. It also has a gun protruding from the lower region of the torso, which can be activated through the mechanism and controls inside the robot. As part of the finished product, I added shadows, and different metallic materials onto the robot to make it look more realistic and professional. I also added a background by warping a metallic texture into position to make it look like the floor and wall of the scene.

Observational Experiments

These observational experiments were inspired by robotic parts, as you can see by the darker parts. The parts that appear darker are pictures stuck onto a piece of paper before hand - I then sketched the rest of the robot in fine detail as I saw fit. The one that really stands out to me is the bottom one, due to the fact that it took me the longest. I tried my best to mirror the robotic arm part, as well as sketching the body and head of the robot.

The shape of the robot experiment at the top right actually inspires the torso of my current robot. I like this shape because it looks neat and professional, and easy to model in Maya.

Robots in Films

Robots in Games

Robots in Reality

For my moodboard, I started doing research into different examples of robots in films and games, for example, Claptrap from the Borderlands franchise, and C3-PO from Star Wars.
These were all very good examples and will inspire me to create something very similar for my final idea.

Mindmap

For my mindmap, I began looking into different types of materials and equipment typically used in robots, such as wires and metal.