Robot Character Design Suggestions

[SilverSpook]

What I want here is to make the robot's tentacles appear as though they consist of a piezoelectric polymer (or some sort of artificial muscle failing that).  The  bot I'm thinking was originally intended as some sort of all-terrain disaster-response bot, so if anyone can think of pseudo-engineering components or design ideas to augment this dude with it would be much appreciated.

Kind of open-ended here but basically I've blown a lobe-gasket running on creative fumes and want the guy a bit more believable, interesting, or both if the two aren't diametrically opposed.



EDIT: Sorry forgot pic.

[Mandle]

Hmmmm...maybe he would have some kind of winch on him somewhere to pull people up from below or drag rubble out of the way during his disaster responsing? But at the same time I don't think anything bulky should be added to his exterior as such equipment would be easy to snag going through narrow spaces, so the winch should be fully-retractable back into his shell.

Maybe also an extendable/retractable satelite uplink dish for when normal line-of-sight radio contact isn't enough...

I think you should keep the basic spherical shape however for the reason mentioned above. Even if it seems a little dull to you it probably makes the most sense for the job he's supposed to be doing. But with cool stuff that pops out and in Inspector Gadget style

[Frikker]

for the leg/tentacle things , maybe something based on the tentacles of the sentinels in the Matrix trilogy. Thats what initially sprung to mind when i saw your drawing, also they are search robots with lots of cool gadgets like lasers to cut through ships hulls so you might get some inspiration for add ons. Plenty of reference pics on google images.

Also yes a winch would be very cool

[SilverSpook]

Thanks for the suggestions Frikker and Mandle.  I like the point about the uplink satellite and the laser gadgets, etc.  It is supposed to be allusive (is that a word?) to the Matrix partially.



Updated version.  I tried to rub in the polycarbon-grey Festo-style muscles to give it a bit more realism and it's a bit more Matrixey Sentinel-like.  Working on the winch concept, at least some door that could potentially be the compartment exit for the winch.

[Cassiebsg]

Are those purple things eyes?
Why not go for a 360 degree visor, so the eyes can be inside and protected, at the same time it would be possible to look 360 degrees round? So in reality not have a front/back concept.

[SilverSpook]

I like the visor concept.  Yes those blue dot's on the telescoping cylinders are eye-like apparatuses.

[Mandle]

By the way...Is this going to be a Star Wars game by any chance?

"This is the droid you are looking for!"

[SilverSpook]

No, not a Star Wars game.  It does have a lot of robots in it, though!

[Mandle]

No, not a Star Wars game.  It does have a lot of robots in it, though!

Ah, I could have sworn I spotted a Jawa...