I'm working on an another vision project with some folks from Texas Homeland Security and Intelligence Counter Terrorism group. The gist of this project is to put our wounded and disabled vets (Virtual Heroes) back to work using telepresence robots / workstations / drones so they can provide patrol security. It's set out 10-20 years from now.

The first version involves two separate scenarios, and a ton of tech. I'm supposed to be done end of this month with finished renders and story. I've got some help, but I suspect I'll end up doing most of the concepts, sketches, CAD and final renders.

I've kinda bounced around between SketchUp and MoI3D for concept sketch models for projects like this. But, since this is on such a tight schedule, I'm starting off using MoI as a sketch tool. Export to SketchUp for quick communication sketches, then back to MoI for refining-- hoping everything comes together in KeyShot for the final. I'll use this thread to post progress and any notes I'm taking as I go.

Here's the start. First, I do silhouettes for many of the different tech devices. A strong design typically has a strong silhouette. These are great for getting quick feedback without having to spend too much time. All done on iPad. Each not more than 15 min.

Indoor Sentry:


Semi Autonomous Drone Carrier Vehicle:


Telepresence Avatar:


Perch and Stare Drone:


Next, I jump into MoI and start to assemble some crude concepts. Mostly concentrate on gross shape-- think of these like CAD silhouettes. Export from MoI to SU, render line drawing (and visualizer) and pop into Pshop for some quick vignetting. The goal is to design and render a concept in 2-3 hrs. Not too much detail, but enough to begin to tell a story.

New Perch and Stare Drone concept:




Workstation Concept:


Indoor Sentry:


One of the nice things about combining SU with MoI is that I can grab models from the SU Warehouse (like the human figure and powered chair).