Project 3 - Modeling and Prototyping

I started out modeling the astronaut in blender using the references I drew. The model is composed mostly of simple shapes - spheres and cylinders - scaled and combined together. The hands and feet required more editing, using Blenders vertex, edge, and face editing tools, as well as extrusions and loop cuts to make more complex shapes. I started out just making the shape of the body, then later worked on each piece individually hollowing it out and adding any internal structures.

My first 3D model of the astronaut was very simple, I just wanted to start printing quickly so I could get an idea of how the physical object would be put together and make changes from there.

My first printed prototype worked really well but had a few issues. The elastic cord I bought to string the doll was too big, so I bought some smaller stuff and made the doll bigger for the next prototype. I was able to partially put the doll together with wire for the time being. I had also left out the notches on the ball joints in the first model for simplicity which really restricts the movement of the limbs.

I had a lot of fun learning Blender, but in the end remodeled the astronaut in Rhino because it seemed better suited for this project. Blender uses modifiers, which act as non destructive editing for boolean unions and differences, which I found annoying because it added extra steps to the process, vs the workflow I was used to in Rhino that uses lots of boolean adding and subtracting. But I exported the hands and feet from Blender into Rhino as I found them really easy to model in Blender. 

For the second model I made in Rhino I paid more attention to the internal structure, measuring to make sure it would fit my elastic cord and including the notches in the joints. The second prototype came out great but still has a couple issues I need to fix. The joints only want to sit in the extremes of their moment ark which is a big problem for the poseability of the doll. I figured out why this is happening, but it is hard to explain. I think I can fix it by reprinting some of the limbs with a rod through the center of the joint ball. The thinner elastic is also weaker than I hoped, and because stringing the doll is already a fairly difficult task the doll is quite loose and doesn't have the stability I was hoping for. I will try enlarging the holes inside the limbs to fit the original thicker elastic because I think it will work better.