DIPLOMA PROJECT

SCI FI MOVIE CONCEPT VEHICLE

Sponsor : SELF

GUIDE : BALAJI RENGARAJAN

STUDENT : MIKHIL SONAVARIA

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN (TRANSPORTATION & AUTOMOBILE DESIGN)

National Institute of DesignAhmedabad

2014

Volume : 1

PROGRAMME : Post-Graduate Diploma Programme

TIMELINEThe timeline mentioned here, is the timeline which I pre-

sumed before beginning the project. After digging deeper

into the project I realized that, I not only have to do the things

that I earlier thought but also invest a great deal of time in

learning new softwares like MODO and Z-brush and trying

new techniques.

The process also involved creating a story board, and ideat-

ing the vehicle keeping the story board in mind. In the Design

& Convergence phase I had to divide my time, I was jumping

from sketching vehicles to creating shots for the story.

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Science-fiction movies dictate what we expect from the future.

Movies influence our need for technological advancements. In

the year 2002 a Hollywood film Minority report featured gesture

control & augmented reality and they are now available in our

daily computing devices. Science Fiction author John Clute said

“Science-fiction has never really aimed to tell us when we might reach other planets, or develop new technologies. Science fiction speculates about why we might want to do these things, and how their consequences might affect our lives and our planet.” Imagination is innovation: Imagination drives innovation in the

field of science; the utopian future perceived by concept artists

in movies is how we fancy to live and travel in the future. Living

on planet Mars or driving a space buggy on its surface may be a

distant dream for us now but at least we can imagine how living

on Mars will feel like or what kind of a space buggy would be in

the market for such

explorations.

Usually sci-fi movies are made up four elements. A plot, actors,

time and lastly a vehicle. The plot defines the story and interac-

tion of the characters. The actors enhance the plot and form an

emotional connect with the audience. Fantasy concept vehicles

in sci-fi movies play an important role in defining a plot or to sug-

gest the time in future.

INTRODUCTION DESIGN BRIEFConceptualize a concept vehicle for a sci-fi Bollywood movie

script. Based on the purpose of the vehicle in the movie de-

sign a functional vehicle. The presence of the vehicle on the

screen should be such that it mesmerizes the audience. The

vehicle outshining the other stars in the movie must also be-

come an icon for the movie.

Automotive manufactures also use sci-fi movies with story

plots based in the future to showcase the future design phi-

losophy of the brand. Studying governing factors of automo-

tive forms influenced by the selected theme, mood and in-

spirations. Both the movies and the companies benefit from

such collaborations.

STORY

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On 1st november 2013, There was a communication blackout for 18mins 13 secs. After two days followed by the sun radiating weirdly.

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After assuring himself and gather-ing the courage to share his the-ory Ayan started persuading his colleagues and fellow scientists. To convince the rest of the world he not only needed hard evidence but also a realistic plan about the mission. Ayan then decided to in-volve oem’s briefing them about the various requirements of the mission.

After ayan had all the proof supporting his theory, he had to convince the world. So on 10th august a conference was held at the un headquarters in new york. He was nervous, the world’s eyes upon him.

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The presentation began...lets meet the team first.

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MISSION TIMELINE

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HOW FAR IS IT?

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If you think 500 light years is too far. Have a look at this.23

What is dark matter?

Dark matter is made of nuetrinos which is a high energy in-

visible excotic particle. Dark matter was created during the

Big Bang and is causing the universe to accelerate. It is the

scafolding holding the normal matter making up of 23% of

universe & 4% of normal matter. It has helped in the forma-

tion of Stars. Light bends while passing through dark mat-

ter It passes through ordinary matter but is low on mass.

Dark matter does not interact with matter but gets affected

by gravity. Germanium is used to detect dark matter. Ger-

manium needs to be kept at - zero temperatures. Possible

suspects of dark matter are MACHOS & Axions. MACHOS

or Massive Compact Halo Objects have high mass and do

not emit much light. They are present throughout the galaxy.

Axions are very light and were created during the Big Bang.

They change to protons and are also omnipresent in the uni-

verse.

How far is the planet?Keplar 186f is 500 light years away i.e. under 5000 trillion

kms away. With our current technology we can achieve

62,120 kmph. which will take us approximately 22 lakh years

for reaching the destination.

How is the distance measured?Distance beteen the earth and keplar 186f is measured us-

ing Red shift. A type 1a Super Nova is used a standard can-

dle. To meaure the ditance the brightness is compared with

the standard candle.

What happens if the sun is lost?99.9% of earth’s productivity is because of photosynthesis.

The current average temperature is 14-15 degrees. It will fall

below 0 degrees.The oceans will freeze in 1 to 3 years.

The Global surface temp will reduce to -73 degrees Celsius.

The Ice age will return folllowed by extinction of human be-

ings.

What is a warp engine?A Warp enigne is an antimatter Catalyzed Micro-Fission

(ACMF) engine. A warp engine compresses the space in

the front while explanding the space in the rear. The warp

engine uses the Space-Time continium theory. In quantum

mechanics, in vaccum particles exists which appear & dis-

appear proving the existence of negative energy. The radia-

tion from ACMF engine would be intercepted by a 4 meter

radius silicon carbide shell. Additionally, 1.2 meters of lithium

hydride will shield the fuel rings from high-energy neutrons

that are ejected from the nuclear explosions, and 2.2 meters

of shielding will protect the crew modules. The spacecraft

would have a total mass of 625 metric tons, with 82 addi-

tional metric tons available for payload.

How do we reach the alien planet?There are many theories to cover such large distances.

One of them is bending the time and space fabric, second is

using a worm hole and the third is using portals.

To reach the planet keplar we will have to travel at the speed

of light. The most likely way of doing this will be the use of

an warp engine. According to Einstein’s theory as energy in-

creases mass increases so to travel at the speed of light

infinite energy is needed because. Therefore the only way

to achieve interstellar space travel the space needs to be

distorted instead of traveling at the speed of light.

Q&A WITH AYAN

Warp drive equation for calculating the energy required for

time- space jump.

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How to reduce cost per kilo of sending some-thing into space?Current cost of $13,182 per kilo. Use of Ram jet Engines

which are more reliable and cost efficient. Ram jets fuses

hyrogen gas to produce a jet. Ram jets are currently being

used for short range missiles.

How to communicate with the space craft?The current technology is insufficient, Laser communication

will be used which will negate the lag time in the receivers.

What is a portal?A portal is an extra ordinary opening in space and time which

connect to distant realms. They are formed when the geo

magnetic field of earth connects with the magnetic field of

sun. Sudden joining of magnetic force causes propulsion

of charged particles creating an electron diffusion region.

Cluster probes suggest these portals close & open each day.

Some portals are small & short lived while others are large.

Energetic particles can flow through the opening of the por-

tals. Portals can be detected using magnetospheric multi-

scale magnetic sensors.

How do we fund this project?The only way we can fund this if every government in the

world starts setting aside money for the project.

The investment in research & development of the technol-

ogy will also benefit & change how our civilization sustains

on earth. Donations by people and companies will also be

encouraged for successfully funding this project. Tax benefits

will be given to manufacturers and suppliers associated with

this project.

What is a Wormhole?A wormhole provides shortcut to time. A wormhole connects

to black holes. The rate of flow of time at the two planets

is different and the flow remains constant in the wormhole.

Thee are no natural wormholes, wormholes will have to be

created.The walls of a wormhole are made up of quantum

foam. The CERN particle accelerator is trying to produce

microscopic black hole.

MISSION VEHICLESThe success of the mission requires three vehicles: Inter-

stellar space jump vehicle, a planet explorer and a contact

vehicle.

Keplar Planet Explorer: This craft will take the contact officers

into the alien atmosphere. The contact vehicle will be loaded

in the bay and then air dropped once the craft reaches the

necessary altitude. It is powered with two Sabre Reaction

Engines.

Interstellar Space Jump Vehicle: The ISJE is the second

most important vehicle of the mission. It will cover the most

distance than any other man made object sent to space. It

will travel 1000 light years once it leaves earth. The first test

jump will be to the dwarf planet Makemake.

The construction of ISJE will begin in the year 2035 & will

take twenty years to assemble with more than 10 trips/years

from earth.

Contact Vehicle: The contact vehicle is the most important

part of the mission and will require maximum time in design

& development. It will be vehicle that the astronauts will use

to explore the planet Keplar. The contact vehicle will be the

first object to interact with the alien life from the planet Earth.

The objective of this vehicle is to provide safety during the

exploration of the unknown planet. It will be medium of inter-

action between the two species. The vehicle will be powered

with a nuclear fusion reactor.

Probes will be sent to Keplar so that the vehicle can be de-

signed accordingly. Only after the astronauts are convinced

about the capabilities of the vehicle and have complete trust

in it the mission will be successful. For this rigorous testing

of the vehicle will be done. The astronauts will be made to

survive inside the vehicle for 3-4 days. As advancements in

technology are made the vehicle will be updated. The vehicle

will be further tested on Mars in 2050. The contact vehicle

prototype will be made in the year 2020 and testing begins

in 2025. Funds for the mission will be gathered by parading

the vehicle with the heroes accompanying it.

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KEPLAR PLANET EXPLORER27

INSTERSTELLAR SPACE JUMP EXPLORER

GERMANIUM DETECTOR

SHUTTLE DOCKING HANGER WITH 2.2 MTS THICK LITHIUM HYDRIDE SHELL

ANTIMATTER CATALIZED MICRO FUSION ENGINE

HYBRID NUCLEAR FUSION PLASMA ENGINES

ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD INITIATOR

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GERMANIUM DETECTOR

CONTACT VEHICLE

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lets set aside our differences and have faith in humanity. This mission will not only change our future but also our present.we must save our sun, the only one we have.

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Although sceptical, the world did come to together,after the world leaders were convinced by the top scien-tists. And so mission save the sun began.

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after The space craft docks with the interstellar jump vehicle the astronauts are placed under artificial hy-bernation for the period of 5 years till the space craft reaches keplar.

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the signals sent by the al-iens had a variations of low frequnecy waves but no high waves, ayan realized that he could use high frequency waves against the aliens which would be unbearable for them.

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the mission save the sun ends successfully thus saving fu-ture of mankind. the journey time was only five years but the mission took 75 years to complete and at a cost of 1500 billion dollars. because of the mission many fields of science & technology gained impetus. the use of antimatter fusion technology to produce unlim-ited electricity solved most of the fuel related problems. The research done in cryogen-ics & hyberantion was profited by health services in increasing the life span of people. The dy-ing of a sun in another solar system not only taught us to appreciate the readily available natural resources on earth and brought us together as a spe-cies. and Finally the mission answered the most daunting question: are we alone in this universe?

THE END

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01 RESEARCH & DESIGN

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1.1 INSPIRATIONAL WORK 1.1.1. Daniel Simon designs sophisticated vehicle-centered

dreams for imagined futures, pasts, and sci-fi worlds. His

mechanical fantasies come to life in movies, books, and re-

ality, sparking true emotions with their detailed believability.

Simon summarizes his creative belief as ‘Style for All Galax-

ies’ and ‘Vehicle Design Unlimited’.

After obtaining his degree in automotive design at the in-

ternationally acclaimed University of Applied Science in

Pforzheim, Germany, he enjoyed five years of explosively

creative work at Volkswagen’s advanced studio near Barce-

lona, Spain. In 2005, Simon worked as a senior designer for

Bugatti Automobiles. In 2007, his first book, Cosmic Motors,

was published, opening the doors to Hollywood: he became

vehicle concept designer on the feature film Tron: Legacy.

Simon now works in Los Angeles, California, on a variety

of concept-design projects for Hollywood productions and

clients (see list below). Simon restlessly fantasizes about al-

ternative worlds, and expresses his personal visions through

the ever-expanding worlds of Cosmic Motors, The Timeless

Racer and DSX.

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1.1.2 Harald Georg Belker is a German automotive/product

designer best known for his vehicle designs in films such

as Batman & Robin and Minority Report. His designs range

from Kaenon Sunglasses to electric bikes and Hot Wheels

for Mattel.

Belker’s career started in 1991 at Mercedes Benz Advanced

Design in Irvine, California. As part of the team responsible

for the Smart Car design, he went on to work independently,

eventually ending up in entertainment design. Here he had

his most significant success. He also explored furniture de-

sign, his Maxelle chair winning the excellent award, and he

is responsible for the design of the line of sunglasses for

Kaenon Polarized, a Newport Beach, California–based com-

pany, that focuses on fashionable but active lifestyle. He has

published a couple of design books, Pulse, explaining his

future vision for high-speed vehicle racing, and Ride, which

showcases the design of a futuristic electric motorcycle.

Since late 2012 he has been working for Anki, a robotics and

artificial intelligence startup company whose headquarters

is in San Francisco.

His latest book Pulse racing is a vision for the future of rac-

ing. The world of pulse Racing is introduced, illustrated and

presented in graphic detail. Based on Mag-lev principles,

newly designed & developed racing machines take the rac-

ers to the limits of human endurance. Tactics & rules make

the winner a question down to the last milliseconds of a race.

Never before has the audience participated the way it does

in this futuristic setting.

1.2.1 Movie: Mere dad ki Maruti

Year: 2013

Vehicle: Maruti Eritga

Usage: Main Prop

Everyone’s dancing and making merry in the Khullar

household, especially Tej who is all set to gift would-be

son-in-law Raj and daughter Tanvi a brand new Maruti

Ertiga car on their wedding day. While the wedding

preparations are in full swing, Tej’s son Sameer Sameer

uses the new car to impress Jazzleen thr “ Shakira of

Chandigarh” and ends up losing it! The car goes miss-

ing, thus forcing Sameer and his best friend Gattu to

form a complex web of lies to save Sameer from the

wrath of his father.

1.2.2 Movie: Hum hai raahi Car ke

Year: 2013

Vehicle: Hyundai i10

Usage: Main Prop

Hum Hai Raahi CAR Ke is the story of two friends who on one

New Year’s night decide to travel from Mumbai to Pune. But a

trip that should only take a couple of hours ends up becoming

an all-nighters, with wacky events keeping them on the road

and preventing them from reaching their destination.

1.2 BOLLYWOOD MOVIE

If you try and recollect cars seen in Bollywood movies,

you would probably remember a Maruti Omni or a TATA

Sumo. These cars were famously used by the bad guys

while kidnapping someone or while chasing heroes

around. But nowadays we see a lot Bollywood movies

centring their stories around cars.

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1.2.4 Movie: Ferrari ki sawari

Year: 2012

Vehicle: Ferrari f430

Usage: Main prop

A little boy, Kayo thinks of nothing but playing cricket. His

father, Rusy thinks of nothing but his little boy. To fulfill his

son’s dream of playing at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, the

honest and upright Rusy performs his first small act of

dishonesty: he borrows the gleaming red Ferrari owned

by Sachin Tendulkar, for one day. The only problem is he

doesn’t inform its legendary owner. A wild, breathless,

bumpy ride begins, a ride that leads to a menagerie of

amazing characters: a wedding planner who’ll stop at

nothing, a Laurel-and-Hardyesque pair of loyal attend-

ants, a greedy politician and his reckless son and a me-

chanic who

specializes in stolen cars. As the Ferrari zooms through

this chaotic world of street-thugs and mass-weddings,

another saga unfolds – a grumpy old man and his secret

wounds, and an epic rivalry that goes back thirty-eight years.

1.2.3 Movie: Challo Driver

Year: 2012

Vehicle: Chevrolet Cruze; Audi Q3

Usage: Main Prop

Prem the grandfather wants someone to come in his grand-

child’s life who would change his life completely. The hero is

very strict by nature and changes his driver 5 times a month.

So by his this behavior. Prem becomes upset. But suddenly

a women driver comes into his life and whole story changes

respectively. At last Hero marries the Women driver and story

ends successfully.

1.2.5 Movie: Do Dooni Char

Year: 2010

Vehicle: Maruti Esteem; Bajaj chetak

Purpose: Main prop

Life can be tough for a man who teaches at a school for a liv-

ing, lives in a DDA flat in Lajpat nagarDelhi and is coping with

the double digit inflation rates and single digit increments in

his salary. Add to that, A teenage daughter, a fast-track son

and a wife who loves the good life. The life of the Duggals

is passing by in simply taking care of the basics. Until one

day, they decide to dream. Their ticket to dreaming comes in

the form of a wedding invitation. An innocent little wedding

invitation. What follows is a journey of chaos, realizations,

calculations, confrontations and bonding. The crazy Dug-

gals will fight it out at home (and the neighborhood) for what

they think is a ‘good buy’ for the family! This family bonds in

the most unexpected and hilarious situations. And just when

they think they are sorted out, comes one big, lurking temp-

tation. Much like the apple in the Garden of Eden. And then,

begins another journey that will drive them, and you, pretty

much nuts.

1.2.6 Movie: Ta Ra Rum Pum

Year: 2007

Vehicle: NASCAR race vehicle

Usage: Main Prop

Story of one man, his family and how they overcome the

obstacles that life puts in their way, together. It is the story of

human spirit & how it ultimately prevails.

A pit crew worker in a racing team with a passion for driving

who gets discovered. He gets drafted into a falling race team.

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1.2.8 Movie: Tarzan

Year: 2004

Vehicle Custom: Dilip Chhabria vehicle

Usage: Main Prop

Raj Chaudhary attends college and works part-time at Kar-

tar Singh’s garage to earn a living, here is where he learns

different arts how to design fustic engines and cars. One

day while returning home from college, Raj passes by a junk

yard, saw a wrecked car and took a liking to it, brought it

and bring it home. Raj spent hours and hours designing the

wreck and eventually restores it to a car, with the latest tech-

nology systems, makes it look new and shiny. He decides to

call this new car “Tarzan”. Unknown to Raj that this new car

will turn his life upside down of having the worst nightmare in

being implicated for a number of innocent lives taken and put

him in the bad books of the police.

1.2.7 Movie: Taxi no. 9211

Year: 2006

Vehicle: Premier Padmini

Usage: Main Prop

A cabbie and businessman both in need of big money par-

take in a two-hour adventure together.

02 DESIGN PROCESS

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2.1 DESIGN LIST

2.2 ORIGINAL STORY After the script for the movie was finalized a rough draft

was done for conceptualizing the scenes.This process also

helped in listing the assets required for completing each

frame.

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2.3 LOGO DESIGN

The logo of the book takes inspiration from “Ack” which is the

last alphabet in the Tamil language. The 3 dots signifies the

sharing of the sun between the two species. The triangular

structure also denotes coming together of the main three el-

ements of the story.

Why? End vs End The story finally comes down to choosing

the end of one species over the other.

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The final logo suggests the interaction of two species with

their backs to each other. The two species go their sepa-

rate ways after their interaction.

2.4 WARM UP SKETCHES

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2.5 SPACE CRAFT After I got warmed up, I started focusing on neces-

sary assets of the script. Ideating & sketching inter-

esting forms was the main goal of the process.

2.6 HELMET DESIGNInitially for learning Z-brush, I started 3D modelling using the

ideations done for the costume of the astronauts. These are

just some of the explorations made.

When the contact is made with the aliens the helmet has pix-

els which map and recreate the expressions of the astronaut.

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2.7 SPACE SUITThe space suit was designed in the year 1969. The suit has

three layers: Water cooled layer, pressurized suit with flexible

joints. Outer Nylon fabric suit for extreme temperature. The

pressure inside the suit is 3.5 psi.

International Latex Corporation & Hamilton Standard were

the original contractors responsible for the design and the

fabrication of the suits.

The designed suit has a triangulated structure in the fabric

which maintains the necessary pressure. The backpack can

also be used a glide on personal mobility device.

2.8.1 ALIEN TERRAINEXPLORATIONSThe brief while conceptualizing the alien terrain was simple.

Make it look weird.

The aliens inhabiting keplar 186f have built their civilization

under the crust. They keep themselves heated by harnessing

the heat from the planets core. Planet’s average temperature

on the surface is -73 degrees Celsius on the surface.

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Process of photo bashing with photos clicked using phone

and images found on the internet.

Exterior of Keplar 186f

Although the exterior of the planet is dead it is very beautiful because of the blue lava flowing from the craters. The blue colour is due to the presence of sulphur.

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The aliens on keplar 186f have built their civiliza-tion under the crust. They keep themselves heated by harnessing the heat from the planets core.

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2.8.2 3D MODELThe alien environment was recreated in Zbrush and then

rendered in MODO. Time taken 2 hours. Recreating renders

in Photoshop although would take lesser time, 3D models

give the flexibility of easily changing textures and lighting

conditions with a click of a button. The same 3D model can

be used for visualizing scenes with different camera angles.

Z-brush Model

2.3 million polygons

Texture Map 2000 x 1000 pixels

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03 CONTACT VEHICLE DESIGN

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3.1.1 DOODLES 1In the beginning while the script was being decided

I had very little to work. This doodling session not

only gave me interesting forms but also a direction

for the functionality of the vehicle.

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3.1.2 DOODLES 2After keeping in mind that I wanted a vehicle to re-

semble a tank, these explorations were carried out.

The results were quite helpful later on in deciding the

volume and the stance of the vehicle.

3.2.1 Mood Board76

3.2 DIRECTION ONE3.2.2 Sketches

3.2.2 Final Renders78

3.3 DIRECTION TWOThe second direction for the contact vehicle took inspiration

from nature while maintaining the stance of a battle tank. In

direction two, the idea was to create a vehicle that was soft to

touch with a solid but brittle frame holding it. The exterior of

the vehicle consists of a soft fabric. The vehicle bends, turns

and twists while manoeuvring since there are no rigid parts

on the vehicle.

3.3.1 Mood Board

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3.3.2 Sketches

3.3.3 Front Explorations

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3.3.4 Rear Explorations

3.3.5 Final Renders84

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3.4.1 Mood Board

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3.4 DIRECTION THREE3.4.2 Sketches

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3.4.3 Side View Form Explorations

3.4.4 Side View Character Exploration90

Turret: The turret canopy rotates 360 degrees. Since the en-

vironment is new and unexplored the passengers need a

360 degree view of the environment.

Protective Exterior Shield: The protective surface keeps the

chassis in place and also protects it. It is also made up lithi-

um hydride to absorb radiation.

Chassis: The sponge like chassis of the vehicle is super mal-

leable and adaptable. It is made up of ceramic carbon nano

tubes. It will adapt and become softer or stiffer depending

upon the on the surface of the terrain.

Free Axle: The Axle and the wheels are not physically con-

nected to the chassis. There are given power and kept in

place with electromagnetic tension.

3.4.5 VEHICLE DETAILSTurret

Protective Exterior Shield

Chassis

Communication

3.4.6 WHEEL EXPLORATIONSThe wheels of the contact vehicle are made up of ventilated

rubber infused with carbon. This rubber is super light & stiff .

Like the chassis it becomes malleable when required. The

wheels have no physical linkages with the chassis. Electro-

magnetic repulsion is used to keep them in place and for

generating motion.

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Various other seating options

3.4.7 INTERIOR SEATING All passengers sitting in one direction. When the turret ro-

tates the entire cabin rotates, the driver can maintain the di-

rection of the vehicle while the turret rotates.

7 mts

3 mts

3.4.8 Final RendersMeet the star of the movie End vs End.94

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04 INTROSPECTION & CONCLUSION

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This diploma project is an amalgamation of trans-

portation design with entertainment design. Trying to

bring the best of both worlds together was not an easy

task since the processes followed in both quite differ-

ent.

Vehicle styling projects usually requires research on

understanding the needs of the end user while enter-

tain design on the other hand tries to satisfy the ob-

server. The idea was to switch from an entertainment

designer to a transportation designer and vice versa

to justify this process. To start things off I had to cre-

ate the story board. Once that is done the story board

would be used as a mood & inspiration board for de-

signing the vehicle.

Doing a self sponsored project has its own set of chal-

lenges but I am glad that I could turn the challenges

into opportunities. Initially the idea of learning new soft

wares and techniques was unpromising but whatever

I have learnt during this has readily benefited my skills

as a transportation designer. Before I venture into the

automotive industry this project has allowed me push

myself as a student.

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