aesthetic robots

[Mschmeh144]

Hi all

I've seen and built a few robots, and I can tell you they're ugly. But not all robots are ugly. How many robots have you seen that are eye catching or just built well and go easy on the eyes?

[techtiger1]

There is a long list of teams here that I could mention. I have always thought 33, 254, 341, 67, and 233 are tops in this category though. The machining, wiring, design and the marketing built into these robots by this group of teams is just always impressive. Now you are seeing more and more teams emulate the look of these robots.

[Abhishek R]

1538, The Holy Cows, have really nice looking robots, from the wiring to the machining.

[billbo911]

We too have produced some ugly bots. That said, this year we built one that I really like.

http://billbo911.smugmug.com/Hobbies/2015/i-RSGDWbJ/1/XL/_MG_7034%20copy-XL.jpg

Please excuse the horizontal black bar. This is a pre-photoshop image.

[GreyingJay]

It is not that difficult to plan for a "less ugly" robot.

Have a plan for mounting your electronics. For example, put your motor controllers all neatly in a line or a grid, orienting the same way. Run your cables in straight "streets and alleys", bundling them up wherever you can. Hide them inside channel if you can do it. This will look pretty and help avoid the rat's nest that is so difficult to debug (you know you've been there).

Use systematic wire colors (some of that is obvious, like red/black and green/yellow for CAN) but you can also sheath them in shrink wrap or flexible conduit tubing that is color coded.

When swiss-cheesing or making cutouts for wires or whatever, do a little measuring and make holes symmetrical, aligned, all the same size and spaced out evenly, instead of just drilling or cutting wherever.

Things that look good: symmetry, clean lines, clean angles, repetition of items with the same size and shape.

Also: mecanum wheels are ugly ;)

[carpedav000]

1024, 5188, 1747, 1018, 3176, 3947, and 1741 had some pretty robots this year.

[Whippet]

We generally produce "ugly" robots (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/39929). This year, we planned a bit more for some paint and decor, and I feel that it made our robot a lot easier on the eyes (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/41859).

[Tungrus]

Hi all

I've seen and built a few robots, and I can tell you they're ugly. But not all robots are ugly. How many robots have you seen that are eye catching or just built well and go easy on the eyes?

"Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder"

- Plato

There are a number of bots that are pretty and easy to look at. Nice to see so many teams sticking with their team color theme.

[Knufire]

As a general trend I've noticed, California has a much higher density of aesthetically impressive robots than other parts of the country. Walking around the pits at Chezy Champs last year, powdercoating was more the standard than the exception.

[Mike Marandola]

I am a huge fan of 696's design. Also 2590, 1640, 869, and 1218 from MAR.

[Dan Petrovic]

696 nicely demonstrates just how underrated white finishes (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/ca7/ca722d779abad18044668fc98ff9b569_l.jpg) are.

1501 shows us that powder coating isn't the only way to make your robot look smooth (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/729/72945857d4874c5256eb1496e1fefdab_l.jpg).

Let's ignore coloring for a second and recognize 217's engine turning (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/d94/d94d6d1beb061e11d97f5f18064ac04e_m.jpg) that's enough to add a little sparkle.

[RamZ]

I think Baymax (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/0b8/0b8a72f08935aa4e0258f63dfe7a5170_m.jpg) is our best-looking bot yet!

[lethc]

148's robots always look nice to me. The fact that they manage to make their complex mechanics look as nice as they do and consistently stick to a color pattern is impressive.

[The other Gabe]

my team had great looking robots this year and 2012. 4488 has made beautiful robots for the last two years. Holy Cows always look great, 624 had a great looking robot this year. 118, 254, 1114, and 1983 always make pretty robots (i'm a big fan of green powder coating). 148 makes beautiful Matte black powder coating, and 955 looked great this year too. my aesthetic is definitely powder coating and/or a lot of cool looking weigh reduction.

[BrendanB]

A lot of people view powdercoating, anodizing, or painting as the standard for an attractive robot but teams like 233, 254, 696, 1538, and 118 add quality and attention to the small details that really make their robots attractive.

233, 254/696/1538 with CNC'd or waterjet parts & careful attention to detail on how they route their wiring completed with nice lexan paneling. They see the product through to completion and it shows.

118 seems to outdo themselves each year with their unique designs coupled with throwing their team number/logo in as many places as they can. You also can't beat that Nasa white and gold finish.

Teams like 2056 skip the color but still have beautiful machines by focusing on the quality of the product in every part they make.

Many teams push making the machine look good over getting it completed and performing which is a slippery tradeoff. Some teams overcome this by making the practice robot first while the competition robot gets colored and modified based on what they learn from their practice robot. Other teams (like some of the teams above and others) have integrated the coating process so well into their season that they can drop parts off in the morning and have them back that afternoon for assembly so it doesn't slow them down. Every team does this program for various reasons but you need to ask yourself what is more important: making a beautiful robot or making a performing robot. It is possible you can do both but for most teams with lower resources or experience doing both is harder.

[Jack S.]

I've been a fan of 2826's aesthetics the past few years. I really liked the industrial, bare metal look they had this year. IMO a robot's performance on the field contributes to its aesthetics as well, and Wave definitely wasn't lacking in that regard.

http://tinyurl.com/jvg7ofu

I'll also contribute the obvious numbers one, one, and eight. They make some of my favorite looking robots year in and year out.

http://tinyurl.com/o5jyly7

[EricLeifermann]

IMO a robot's performance on the field contributes to its aesthetics.

Glad I decided to read before posting as this is my exact sentiment as well.

[s_forbes]

This year's game resulted in a lot of box-shaped elevator robots, which tend to look pretty bland in my opinion. Pretty robots have curves.

1501 has made some of my favorites:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/20393
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/23151
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/32817

[RacerX]

Here is a vote for #1595 Dragons. The robot looked great!!!

[LiamN2046]

Here is a vote for #1595 Dragons. The robot looked great!!!

I would like to second this, 1595 had the best looking bot in the PNW. I could tell a lot of detail went into the little things.

[hardcopi]

Our robots are always boxes on wheels. We had planned and designed some cool side panels for our robot, but they weighed almost a pound and we weighed in St Louis at 119.2

[Andrew Lawrence]

Aside from the powdercoat and ano, I've noticed that a large factor in "robot beauty" is continuity in design style. You can look at a 148 robot without the black coating and you'll be able to tell it's a Robowrangler machine solely based on how its design style fits that of the Robowranglers (and all the nonagons in the metal). Most teams with "aesthetically pleasing" robots have developed their own design style over the years that sets them apart from the rest. There were two shiny blue robots in the finals of the Central Valley regional, but they could clearly differentiated from each other solely on how their design styles were (and the fact that one wasn't moving ::ouch:: ).

[Botwoon]

I'm still partial to our robot from 2006 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/0e5/0e52cfdc910bb597be9b701a780231d2_l.jpg)

[Siri]

Teams take it to all different levels, but it's not hard to get started. In 2013, a couple of us "broke in" and "graffitied" the bot. (Came in one night and spray painted the frame). It was dead simple and very fast--dry by the time needed our the next day. The spray paint shows more than its share of battle scars, but it works particularly when you're just going for scout/in-match recognition. That plus some nice sponsor panels is really all it takes to started. Oh, and good bumpers (most years), that's a must. I did spindle panels in thin polycarbonate: cut with scissors, print sponsors in mirror image, stick on back, then spray paint the back. Velcro in place. We've been doing it the same way for years, though now the frame is an automotive paint sponsorship.

In-shop it's a couple hours max, plus money for a few cans of paint, some thin PC, and a pack of clear shipping labels. You won't be 254 or anything, but it's enough to make it pop a little (http://wiki.team1640.com/images/4/44/DB9_CMP_130427_csm-19.jpg).

[IKE]

Some well thought out body panels do a lot to adding a nice aesthetic to most robots. Having a consistent color scheme that has a reasonable visual weight to the the overall robot can help get your robot noticed and remembered. Having routed/restrained wiring that is reasonably neat is important to.
I will say, if the name of your team makes sense with the theme/style you choose, then it is easier for people to remember.

Having worked with 33 for a decade, I can tell you, form followed function, but form was not forgotten... Sometimes certain elements got built into the robot early. Sometimes they didn't come until later.
An interesting 33 fun fact: the robot is usually not complete until "antennae" are added, though at least 50% of years they are added as an afterthought (typically as a guide/indicator).

[indubitably]

Something about 3928 bots, I just like how minimalistic everything is.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/765/765f7477a8f25e1a59df80a36714e578_m.jpg

[GreyingJay]

Teams take it to all different levels, but it's not hard to get started. In 2013, a couple of us "broke in" and "graffitied" the bot. (Came in one night and spray painted the frame). It was dead simple and very fast--dry by the time needed our the next day. The spray paint shows more than its share of battle scars, but it works particularly when you're just going for scout/in-match recognition.

We ran out of time to finish our robot this year so what we took to our first regional was missing any kind of motorized tote intake. We had a short time between regionals to cobble something together, and the intent was to prototype with wooden 2x4s and then build "proper" aluminum intake arms that we would take as our withholding allowance to our next regional. Again we ran out of time and we decided to keep the 2x4 arms since they worked. I snuck in the day before we packed and kidnapped the wooden pieces, took them home and gave them a good sanding, priming, and spray painting. I created a stencil with our team name and painted that on as well.

I had hoped that my stealth paint job would be a morale booster when the students discovered the new shiny black arms... what I did not know was that another mentor had the same idea, and was quite surprised to show up to the shop an hour after I left and discovered all the new pieces had gone missing! :yikes:

[BrendanB]

Something about 3928 bots, I just like how minimalistic everything is.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/765/765f7477a8f25e1a59df80a36714e578_m.jpg

Minimalistic and has a work surface! ;)

[RacerX]

Minimalistic and has a work surface! ;)

Is that a Bench Vise????

[Abhishek R]

Something about 3928 bots, I just like how minimalistic everything is.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/765/765f7477a8f25e1a59df80a36714e578_m.jpg

Curved bumpers get me every time. Curved bumpers best bumpers.

[BariSaxGuy]

http://www.teamdriven.us/wp-content/uploads/IMGP8562-640x420.jpg

I always like team 1730's robots.

[philso]

I recall speaking with a team in the Tesla Division that had intended to powder coat their robot but discovered that their design had not taken into account the thickness of the coating so they skipped it. They ended up applying a "brushed finish" that looked like it was applied using a Scotch-Brite pad. Since it consists of a series of randomly oriented fine scratches, scratches don't really show up prominently. It looked sort of like the photo in the link below.

http://www.quickshipmetals.com/decorative-sheet-metal/decorative-stainless-steel/decorative-stainless-steel-rs.html

[fr05ty27355]

In the past, my alma mater team has had decent looking robots, but we never put in much effort to make them truly beautiful. I'm currently working on creating my first "beautiful" robot. It's an FTC (more like FTC-FRC hybrid) demo robot. Although it looks grey, most of the robot is actually going to be a bright white. The red is going to be a shiny metallic red color. I don't think I've seen teams use this color scheme before, and I'm excited to see how it turns out.
http://i.imgur.com/Icv0yzg.jpg

[Abhishek R]

Speaking of powder coating/anodizing, we've been spray painting our parts as we make them since 2009, and it works really well.

[Mike Marandola]

Speaking of powder coating/anodizing, we've been spray painting our parts as we make them since 2009, and it works really well.

What type of spray paint do you prefer? I have heard of teams using enamel based paint in the past.

[Mschmeh144]

This year we powder coated our robot and used led strips all around the bot. While it does look the best out of all we built, it is still a bland and basic design

[Abhishek R]

What type of spray paint do you prefer? I have heard of teams using enamel based paint in the past.

I believe it was enamel, though I'll check when I get back to the shop sometime.

We did do in-house powder coating in 2014, and it was definitely more durable, but for other reasons we decided to go back to spray painting.

[Cash4587]

The past two years, steel wool, simple green, a garden hose, and some enamel spray paint has worked wonders for my team. It's cheap, quick, and provides a surprisingly good finish that is wear resistant to FRC use. (nothing like powder coating though)

[BrendanB]

I recall speaking with a team in the Tesla Division that had intended to powder coat their robot but discovered that their design had not taken into account the thickness of the coating so they skipped it. They ended up applying a "brushed finish" that looked like it was applied using a Scotch-Brite pad. Since it consists of a series of randomly oriented fine scratches, scratches don't really show up prominently. It looked sort of like the photo in the link below.

http://www.quickshipmetals.com/decorative-sheet-metal/decorative-stainless-steel/decorative-stainless-steel-rs.html

We achieved a finish similar to this using an orbital sander and some emery cloth pads.

[Sean Hackett]

125 always has both aesthetically beautiful and functionally intricate machines.

[mipo0707]

Has anyone ever noticed 2056's shiny finish to their robot
I was talking to them at the GTR East regional this year and apparently they use WD-40 and a palm sander to buff the entire robot (except pneumatics, electronics, sensors and the battery)

[RacerX]

Has anyone ever noticed 2056's shiny finish to their robot
I was talking to them at the GTR East regional this year and apparently they use WD-40 and a palm sander to buff the entire robot (except pneumatics, electronics, sensors and the battery)

We would use WD-40 and Scotchbrite on the chrome moly tubing of our race cars, especially the roll cage. It looked good. I imagine doing the same to aluminum would look very good as well.

[evanperryg]

-2451's 2014, and 2013 IRI robots looked awesome.
-1595 always does a good job with their aesthetic. I got to see their 2014 robot in person, it looked very clean.
-1986's designs have a characteristically aggressive look, which is really cool.

[z_beeblebrox]

Wood looks good.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/41762

[asid61]

192 always looks nice, especially their gearboxes. Their 2014 robot was totally colored in red and black.

[Qbot2640]

2014 Was my favorite:
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7569/15703526732_63b6179435.jpg

But 2015 looked good too:
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7282/16966243472_432a9ecdb5_z.jpg

I hated the number rules though!

[LenaBug]

1717's robots look cool!

[Dunngeon]

1717's robots look cool!

Definitely one of my favorite robots too lookout for every year.

[The other Gabe]

Definitely one of my favorite robots too lookout for every year.

speaking of them, their alliance partner at worlds is awesome: 971 unloading a stack is my aesthetic

[Rman1923]

I'm just going to leave this here, this is what MKI:X looked like when we first built it throughout the build season we found the sponsor panels heavy, the underglow shorting into the frame, but it still looks kick butt...

[Kyler Hagler]

I'm surprised 1114 hasn't been mentioned more than they have. They have some of the most beautiful and elegant robots and the performance just adds that much more to the aesthetics. The small attention to detail is what gets me and how simple yet effective they can execute great designs.

[bobl]

Wood looks good.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/41762

I agree! The Riot Crew has used wood for many years. It is a medium that we can work with in the shop and can design just about anything. Not only does wood look good but it takes a hit and keeps its shape. I have seen too many robots become pest bots after one or two matches because their aluminum frames were bent beyond repair and their manipulator/lift no longer functioned.

The Twins 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/116403339@N03/16785672425/in/album-72157650887314618)
The Twins 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/116403339@N03/16598097048/in/set-72157650887314618)

[mipo0707]

1538 cleanest wiring in the world...

1986 MEANIEST LOOKING ROBOT WITH GREEN POWDER COATING AND DESIGN

[JamesYao]

Here's a rendering of our 2015 robot.
http://www.1595dragons.org/uploads/1/7/1/8/17186990/8377554_orig.jpg

[BariSaxGuy]

I could say ours was the best.


http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/9a8/9a86df0959cb01b2b8b4814638710d55_m.jpg
Not Really. We kind of just threw it all together without consideration for how it looked.

[The other Gabe]

Here's a rendering of our 2015 robot.
http://www.1595dragons.org/uploads/1/7/1/8/17186990/8377554_orig.jpg

can I just say that this doesn't quite do your robot justice? It looks even better in person

[indubitably]

Here's a rendering of our 2015 robot.
http://www.1595dragons.org/uploads/1/7/1/8/17186990/8377554_orig.jpg

I stopped by to admire your pit multiple times at champs, too bad I never caught a glimpse of the robot. Your team's imagery is amazing!

[AmoryG]

There are many pretty robots but no list is complete without 118, 148, and 254. 118's robots are insane. I don't know how to describe them, but for some reason their robots remind me a little of the rolling ball sculptures you see in museums. When I look at a 148 robot I feel like I'm looking under the hood of a super car. 254 robots are just always so clean and elegant.

[fargus111111111]

Just to repeat what has already been said, 254, 118, 1114, and 148 always have amazing robots. One thing that my team has done for several years now is used a polycarb shell that we painted from the inside and we don't usually paint our metal. It is certainly not as good as the teams listed above but the shell always makes the bot look much better, and it serves to protect the stuff that is actually important. Something else that we have done to improve looks is made use of LEDs for underglow and headlights. One thing that has been mentioned on this thread multiple times is theme and that is certainly something that can help a robot look better and better catch the attention of scouters. Scouting teams are often drawn to a robot that looks good as well as functions because good looks tend to suggest more time left after the initial build to practice and perfect the design.

[Billfred]

Just to repeat what has already been said, 254, 118, 1114, and 148 always have amazing robots. One thing that my team has done for several years now is used a polycarb shell that we painted from the inside and we don't usually paint our metal. It is certainly not as good as the teams listed above but the shell always makes the bot look much better, and it serves to protect the stuff that is actually important. Something else that we have done to improve looks is made use of LEDs for underglow and headlights. One thing that has been mentioned on this thread multiple times is theme and that is certainly something that can help a robot look better and better catch the attention of scouters. Scouting teams are often drawn to a robot that looks good as well as functions because good looks tend to suggest more time left after the initial build to practice and perfect the design.

Let me just say, Metal In Motion's lexan paint jobs are awesome. It would not be hard for a team to raid a hobby shop's paint section and make something like that happen (if perhaps with a little direction from someone with some experience doing R/C car bodies, or custom work with cars).

I wasn't in charge of 2815's 2009 robot's (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/32939) paint job, but it was done by the district's auto body class over a day or two. If your district has such a program, talk to them now and start making deals.

I have a history of some odd graphical touches borne out of no time or no money. Some of my favorites over the years:

Laminated paper velcroed on (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/27193)
Cut vinyl (under $100 if I recall), painted wood (at least on the outside...), black gaffer's tape covering the metal and rollers. (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/33623) Looked great on the white field in 2009.
More black gaffer's tape, garnet-ish "racing tape" (adds 10 horsepower!), and a little yellow gaffer tape for an accent. (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/36749) I think we were about $100 into that one too, but when you're out of time to paint...
Camo black rattle can paint job (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/37486). At some point in Week 6, we stripped the robot down to the bare carcass, went outside, and bombed it with black. Painted the finer bits like the plinko board and the rollers, then reassembled.
Paper printed off at Kinko's, spray-adhesived onto wood. Most of the black was a Sharpie Magnum marker (the really fat-tipped one), because we had absolutely zero budget on this one. (I donated the printing and the marker.)
[url=http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/40657]Also rattle cans, with printed vinyl graphics (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/39410) done by our sponsor. The graphics were on pieces of corrugated plastic, but there's nothing stopping you from gluing paper or applying them some other way either.

If you're going to resort to tricks like these, the key is to take your time and work carefully. (That goes double with spray paint.) But if you do it right, your robot will look that much better on the field.

(Also, assuming that they return next year as we all hope and pray now that we've seen FIRST's idea of a year without them: Bumper Score is a real thing. Teams will judge the workmanship of the parts they can't see by the big bumper they can see, and a crappy-looking paint job on the numbers really does drag down an otherwise good robot!)

[Chris is me]

A lot of elegance and beauty in robotics comes from the design concept itself. In general, mechanically simpler robots with more attention paid to detail tend to look the best. Complexity can also be pretty, but it tends to add a "clunkiness" of sorts that can be hard to overcome. Oftentimes when coming up with concepts, you can almost use this as a gauge for whether or not you're going too complex. If it doesn't look elegant on paper, it may not perform elegantly either.

I also don't think elegance starts and stops with powdercoating. Paint really helps, don't get me wrong, and I'm a big fan of it. But a quality robot will look great without it, and an ugly robot won't look that much better with it.

Something that isn't necessarily easy to do, but helps a lot with the appearance of any robot, is sandblasting parts. It adds a nice look to even non powdercoated robots and it helps everything look more professional.

[sanddrag]

Surprised nobody has mentioned 968 yet. They set the standard for aesthetics and quality, especially in wiring methods, going back to at least 2004.