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The Brief
The Brief for this project was 'Cultivating Community' (Brief 2), which is about bringing people of different backgrounds together through the use of food. I chose this brief as its scope for a large CAD project. Therefore I immediately began researching into the problem looking at readings in terms of eating together and what the effects of this are.
Initial Sketches
Initially my ideas were a permanent construction in a densely populated area. Within this space there would be stands of different food cultures intertwined down a main walkway. Dotted around would be areas for sitting with groups and enjoying the meal. The seating areas would be ergonmically designed to encourage interaction. The idea was for it to be styled around the 'Solar Trees' located in Singapore.
Initial Build
Following showing my sketches to my research group, it was thought this would be too large of an idea to do solely on my own. I then adapted the concepts of the previous idea and turned it into a smaller pop up food space. Featured in this design, was still the style of Singapore. however there would be three main areas to eat. These are located radially around the center. It was thought by my research group, however, this would be an extremely awkward way of eating as the food would be prepared by a stranger right next to you.
Rethink
Following this feedback My ideas required a rethink. Although it is an ambitous idea, I decided to replace the human chef with a robot. I then began to design a novelty look for the robot in fusion 360 (displayed on the right). the idea was for the robot to stand behind the desk or in a circular bar like structure and serve the food to customers by taking it out of an oven and putting it on a plate in front of them.
Robotics
After designing the robot I needed to make it functional. This meant many components of the original build had to be removed and replaced with functional ones, all which needed to be built and tested from scratch. This included things such as electronic pistons for the arms, and a planetary gearing system for the waist. However following this build and presenting it to the DMD class, the idea was formed to mount the entire system on a truck based on a Coca Cola lorry.
New Sketches
Following this feedback i went back to the drawing board. I looked at other things on the market and eras of vehicles I liked the design style off. I particulaly liked the 1950s F100 pickup truck and decided to use this as the front of the truck. For the back I thought I would make it out of an old shipping container and renovate it to house the necessary components. This way was beneficial as it meant no new materials needed to be used as both halves are a renovation.
Engine Design
For the engine I used Fusion 360s component and joint features. For this I made the internal parts first in component isolation, then brought them together in assembly to test if it would work. Below you can see the finished working model of the engine complete with gear box and differential.
Electronic Engine Design
Despite how long it took me to make the combustion engine there really was no justification for using something as pollutive as that. Therefore I began to research Tesla electric motors using Youtube videos and recommended readings and eventually built a working model to replace the combustion engine in the truck. This was better as the truck already featured solar panels which could then direct their power to the engine and therefore eliminate the need for charging from the mains.
Design Style
As I had already modelled the front of the truck as a 1950s vehicle, I decided to keep the back the same. I therefore adopted a 1950s dinner style for the serving bay of the truck. I liked this idea as with the addition of the Robots as there is a blend of retro and futurisic with a nuclear feel about it.
Final build of the Serving Bay
When it finally came to building the serving bay, the initial iteration was fairly dark and loomy. Therefore I built the red neon lights to add in to give it a warmer feeling. I built the retro Coca Cola signs to further promote the theme of 1950s. It was said by my focus group that their should be music playing to make it feel less daunting if you were you were on your own. I therefore added a jukebox to play music and further the 1950s theme.
Finished Product
Displayed on the left is the final build of the truck. Complete with working induction motor, robotic servers, neon lights and juke box. Overall I am pleased with the way the finished product looks. Given more time I would have liked to further develop the functionality of the truck in most components. As well as this I wanted to make an advert/video of the entire product to illustrate all its features. However I am for the most part very happy with it.