Back in September I began my initial project of my final year in college. The only parameters we were given for this project was that it had to be displayed nicely inside a 1 foot x 1 foot perspex box. After some thinking I decided to make promotional prototypes for Bord Gais, one of Ireland energy providers. At the time Bord Gais had just released a new ad campaign involving 'energy bots'.
 |
| Bord Gais Energy Bots |
After some research and design work I decided to make three different prototypes. A child's night light, and small walking toy and a USB key. The night light was the focus of the project and this was the end result.
 |
| Finished Night Light |
 |
| Night Light, USB and Walking Toy on Display. |
Hit the jump for some details of how they were made.
In order to make the night light I laser cut layers of plywood and built them up to create the basic shape of the robot. Looking back on it this probably wasn't the best method that I could have used but my college had only just gotten a laser cutter so it was a totally novelty to me! In the end it made the whole process more laborious but I got taught how to use the laser cutter so I'm glad I did it!
 |
| Laser cut pieces layered to form the basic shape. |
The vacforming turned out to be more complicated then I had thought. There was some cobwebbing at the legs that I couldn't get rid of so I ended up cutting off the legs and vacforming them separately. Here's the finished piece in situ.
The USB key and walking toy were both carved out of grey foam. The walking toy was then vacformed before being fitting with a walking mechanism and painted.
In the middle of this project, during the arduous process of creating the night lights shape I came in to college one day to find he had been given a heart. This cute little gesture by one of my friends might seem insignificant but it kept me going so I thought I'd share!
No comments:
Post a Comment