Assignment
Group assignment: Actuate and automate your machine.
Individual assignment: Document the group project and your individual contribution.
Week 10 — Machine Building
Dalek Brain Rot Bot (Group Project)
My Contribution: Exterior + Body Team
This week was Machine Week, where we built a functioning machine together as a group. Our team created the Dalek Brain Rot Bot, a playful robot inspired by "brain rot" meme culture, with moving arms, a phone holder, and a dramatic little brain on top.
Most of the electronics, coding, and mechanical documentation is on our group page, but this page covers my personal contributions, especially to the body, exterior, and aesthetic parts of the project.
01. Starting With a Physical Model: Cardboard Mock-Up
Because I work visually and hands-on, I began by building a quick 1:1 cardboard mock-up of the Dalek's body. We had a shared Fusion 360 cloud folder where the mechanical team set the base dimensions, so I used those measurements and cut everything free-hand.
The mock-up helped us:
- visualise the proportions
- understand how much space we had inside
- see how the phone holder, head cavity, and camera opening would align
- check how tall each section should be
- predict any collisions between components
I sketched directly onto the cardboard as I went, to mark openings and possible placements.
This first structure ended up being very helpful for the whole group, because it allowed us to split the robot into three main sections:
- The skirt (bottom) – the base + motors
- The middle – the arms, interior for electronics and mechanical parts
- The top – head, phone holder, and brain
02. Structure → Interior Hand-Off
After creating the initial structure, I realized I was starting to shape what would become the interior team's job. But the mock-up was exactly what we needed to plan the full layout.
Once that foundation was clear, the interior team took over:
- laser-cutting the final interior layers
- mounting motors
- organizing electronics
- aligning the mechanical parts
My cardboard form became spatial reference.
03. My Main Role — Exterior + Aesthetic Work
After the interior layout was underway, I fully shifted into my main strength: design, structure, finishing, and bringing the bot to life visually.
I took responsibility for:
• Exterior structure
- contributed building the outside surfaces - spray painting
- smoothing the shape
- checking alignment with sensors + camera
- refining dimensions so everything fit cleanly
• Spray painting + finishing
This became one of my biggest contributions:
- primed the body
- layered the paint
- shaped the overall visual identity
- made sure the finish didn't interfere with any moving parts
• Head + phone holder integration
I worked on the top section to make sure:
- the phone fit securely
- sensors were visible
- the brain sat correctly
- everything attached cleanly to the middle section
• Coordination
I spent time coordinating with the arms + assembly teams, checking:
- collision points
- clearances
- fit during assembly
- stability
04. Making the Brain (Smooth-Cast 305 + Acrylic Finish)
One of my favorite parts of the whole project was making the Dalek's brain.
Mixing
I used Smooth-Cast 305, which is a fast-curing liquid plastic.
To get the right color, I:
- mixed the two parts of 305
- added acrylic paint to tint it a soft pink
- poured it into my chosen form
It was interesting seeing it heat up as it cured.
Carving + Shaping
When the piece cured, it was a solid form that needed a lot of shaping to fit without obstruction.
I:
- hand-carved it
- filed and shaped the curves
- refined the underside so it fit perfectly into the top cavity
- sculpted the surface to look more "brainy," organic, and slightly weird-cute
Painting + Finish
To bring it to life visually, we:
- added more acrylic paint on top
- highlighted areas to deepen the pink
- added subtle texture
05. Final Assembly + Touches
Near the end, I helped during the assembly:
- aligning the head section
- ensuring the phone holder fit
- checking how the brain sat
- confirming that the paint didn't block movement
- holding parts in place while the team screwed or glued them
06. Reflections
At the beginning of this week, I felt a bit lost because the mechanical and coding sides were unfamiliar to me. But as soon as we moved into form, material, and finishing, I found my place.
My contributions this week:
- physical mock-up for visualization
- structuring the body sections
- exterior construction
- spray painting + finishing
- shaping the top section
- making the Smooth-Cast 305 brain
- assisting final assembly
- coordinating between teams
This week showed me how important the aesthetic + structural dimension is in a machine project, and how design can support the engineering side to bring everything together.
Gallery
