Logoing Mad

This is probably an uneccesary step, given that this project is already taking up my entire existence, and my clothes constantly smell of clay. However, I felt that given the slightly wacky aspect of my design, and the fact that even I have no idea if I can call it a car, means I really need something to call it, and to define the project with. I absolutely HATE naming products, and I’m not 100% sure I managed to avoid the evil cheesiness fairy on this one, but there is actually some thought I put into this. But first, the logo…

Ok, now why? Well, the idea is that is refers back to my theme of the design enveloping the passengers in a comfortable, but compact cabin, the design being shaped around the users (‘nvelope’ conveys the pronunciation of this usage of the word better, as distinct from the thing you send letters in). In addition, I liked the subtle suggestion of the ‘velope’ part of the word, reminiscent of ‘veloce’ – Italian for fast – which was one of my original themes; aerodynamic, and efficient at very high cruising speeds. If you want to get even nerdier with me, I did see the ‘lope’ as being another tie-in to the vehicle’s legs, although as these don’t strictly walk, I think that might be stretching it a bit. As for the logo graphic, I was very fortunate that the shape of the word and the car’s sillhouette match very nicely indeed, with the letter L defining the symmetrical axis of both the number of letters in the word (another reason for contracting ‘en’ to ‘n’), and the vehicle itself.

Sketchovers – the lazy man’s rendering

Well, it almost feels like cheating, seeing as my proportions never look this good in actual sketches, but here are some of the sketchovers I have been using to accompany my design changes in the clay itself. I’m loving the three dimensionality of working in clay, and being able to view even subtle surface changes instantly from many angles, but sometimes that simply takes too long (or I’m sick of putting clay back on – it’s very demoralising haha) so these are the next best thing for experimentation. I find they also help me in cases where I’ll sketch out the linework of a theme I’m actually happy with, to consult with later if my experimentation on the clay destroys that particular feature. Sort of a labour intensive ’Save as Copy’ function, if you will.

While I’m in a Scanning Mood

Now that my scanner and I have come to some sort of unspoken peace agreement, I figure I will try to scan in the some of the myriad of sketches that are piling up on my desk. I have a lecture very soon, so I’m going to head off, but here’s a few samples for now. They have helped me decide to quirky-up the shape a bit, but really, the biggest thing I learned here is a reminder that I cannot sketch in ballpoint pen for nuts.

Looks like I’m doomed to graphite smudged paper forever. Yay.

Oh yeah, those things it rolls on…

Before I forget one of the most important elements of any car design, I’ll update on progress with the wheels. It’s actually been a nice change to work on these, as there are very few restrictions in designing a wheel. Actually, that’s a lie – due to the way I want my car/motorbike/thing to work, there willhave to be a very function driven shape. You may have noted (predominantly) round side blisters at the leg ends in the photoshops and sketchovers. These accomodate the electric engines for each wheel. Of course though, I’d want these bumps to be a streamlined as possible, so the majority of each engine bulk will actually sit inside the wheels themselves. Moreover, the wheels have to work joined together as a motorbike wheel, and ideally, have a higher contact patch when open and negatively cambered (this should be minimised in motorbike mode to reduce rolling friction). Thus, an assymetric tyre design is needed.

Speaking of tyres, there is another element I must consider here – I want to do a really unique tread pattern that matches the design (and perhaps references african art/sculptural graphics), but it has to be bi-directional given that the vehicle travels both directions. But before I get (more) boring, here is some of the development of the tread pattern and some of the concepts for spoke design. I was inspired initially by wind tubines for them, but those are quite directional, so after a tweaking cad models for a while, I came to decide on the final one, which I think retains a slight aero styled aesthetic.

Ahh, so many Play-Doh memories… Claying Up

Well, I guess you would call this the fun part, but fun seems to be evading me as far as claying up goes. I tried valliantly to get this infernal goop to stick to the styrofoam, but it would seem that shellac is the natural nemesis to clay’s adhesive properties. I was aware this bonding was a bit tricky, and in anticipation, I deliberately roughed up the styrofoam prior to hitting it with the shellac. Er, that sounds more like a violent mugging, but I swear I was nice to it.

Long story short, adding more layers and pushing really hard helped, and eventually I’ve managed to achieve a shape vaguely reminiscent of my car, albeit one that has passed through a very large animal. Next step is to begin refining and shaping cleaner surfaces, which promises to be a lot more enjoyable.

Me wishing I'd used plasticine more often as a kid...

Getting there... Fingers burning...

.....aaaand done. (In reality, that took me a good 6 hours)

The profile board getting put to use

I made a somewhat unorthodox decision to bring the clay fully down to the baseboard, however, as the design has a very small ground clearance, I think it would be easier to cut the clay away from the bottom neatly, than to leave a gap while claying up. We'll see if this gamble pays off...

In preparation for the next stage, where I will cut back surfaces and add smaller bits of clay to make a more accurate shape, I've used the grid to cut 2mm deep centrelines through the model

Foundations First – Armature Design

 As I mentioned in the first post, this project will eventuate in a 1:10th scale clay model of the design. The design process will actually extend into the clay forming, as I will continue to carry out overlay sketching and design revisions throughout the modelling process. But first things first, I need a basis from which to begin claying up. To this end, I’ve designed an armature from MDF, dowel and shellac-sealed styrofoam that should provide a solid and accurate foundation.

Here you can see the baseboard with scribed-on grid, and some rather heavy duty dowelling - my design is fairly narrow, so these are for maximum stability, as well as rapid model removal, sans screwdriver

Two layers of mdf stack on the dowels - the larger top one is, for all intents and purposes, the model 'floor' and will be clayed into it (the lower lines of the model may change, so the clay will actually wrap around and under it), wheras the lower piece is simply a spacer to lift the floor to an appropriate level. This spacer can be replaced for a higher one to get better access to the bottom of the model

A peice of approximately shaped styrofoam (sealed with shellac) is glued on the floor board and completes the body of the armature. Also note the profile board I have made, based on the package drawing outline. The gap (approx. 10-20mm) is indicative of how much clay will fill out the surface, and consequently dictates how far the design surfaces may be altered

A profile board was also constructed from the front view package drawing

To serve as placeholders for the wheels, and to achieve a really crisp interior finish on the wheel shroud, I layered these MDF blocks to the precise width, and attached them firmly from underneath with countersunk screws. I also carefully covered them in a neat layer of glossy sellotape, so that the clay doesn't stick come removal time

Changes already…

Ok, so after a decent sleep at last, I looked at this thing through fresh eyes, and I’m thinking the first change might be to remove the lower kink from the ‘legs’. The upper indent/gap serves as a subtle air intake for motor ventilation (for whichever wheel assembly is at the trailing end – the front assembly intake is the forward facing gap just above the wheel), and also creates a space where the monorail fits when the wheels close over it. But I see no reason for the lower line to match it – it kind of spoils the aerodynamic shape, and reduces the ‘skin’ area for the solar charging. Anyway, I did a sketch, and I believe this works, and looks, better…

Chosen Design – Photoshop Render and Package Drawing

Without further ado, here is the chosen design concept. I will go into more detail later, and provide some sketches of the interior and functions and such, but for now, I will explain that it’s a two person vehicle with the ability to change from a motorbike layout to a more stable, wider, and shorter wheelbase at slow speeds or in tight corners. It is solely electric motor powered, with a photovoltaic coating over all surfaces, glass inclusive, to augment normal powerpoint charging. When parked, it sits the cabin on the ground and tilts its ‘leg’ surfaces to face the sun for maximum solar charging efficiency. These ‘legs’ can also be raised above the cabin so that the wheels grip an overhead monorail, enabling the drive wheels to act directly on that as well. But more on that later – for now, some images…

Developing the Theme…

So with the choice to pursue an automated vehicle made, the design really opened up and became very interesting to me. It allowed for a stepping outside of conventional layouts, where the goals are now the most efficient packaging of the human form in a vehicle, while still retaining all the comfort and tie-ins with Attenborough symbology. The following sketches indicate the progression of the ‘cabin with legs’ concept that I’m quite taken with at present. You’ll have to forgive some of the messier examples – most of the better ideas came to me at 3am one morning and I scratched them out to keep from forgetting!

My Homework for Mike

Ok, so as a brief distraction, I have finally found the clip I mentioned to Mike, showing the rather unfortunate and hilarious failure of Mercedes’ Brake Assist PLUS (essentially a sensor system that auto brakes the car, avoiding pile ups in fog, for example). Long story short – in a test on live German TV, it doesn’t work and there is a very embarrassing prang. Rather a large download though, and it’s quite a few minutes in - my apologies, but it is worth the wait.

Behold…  http://www.autoblog.com/2005/12/02/video-of-mercedes-benz-three-car-s-class-pile-up/