aesthetic robots

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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 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
Cut vinyl (under $100 if I recall), painted wood (at least on the outside...), black gaffer's tape covering the metal and rollers. 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. 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. 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.
[url=http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/39410]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.)
Also rattle cans, with printed vinyl graphics 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.