Been feeling a little inspired to sketch out some robot designs after recently seeing Pacific Rim? Me too. Lucky for us, the studio behind all of the animatronics used in Pacific Rim (on a side note: holy crap, they actually used animatronics for those scenes?), Legacy Effects, has been celebrating Robot Month with a 3D printed robot contest where you have a chance of having your design printed by the same guys responsible for the Pacific Rim robots…and on the same machine that they use for all their movie robot designs. Interested in bringing home a little bit of sci-fi movie memorabilia bragging rights? Here’s the details.

Robot Design 3D Printing Competition

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It should be noted that Legacy Effects has an extremely diverse portfolio outside of Pacific Rim with design projects ranging from the Iron Man series to Oblivion and the Hunger Games to Avatar. According to their Systems Engineer Jason Lopes, the machine that the winning submission will be printed on is the same machine used to create literally thousands of parts for the movies in their expansive and impressive portfolio.

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The Details

The Stan Winston School of Character Arts is hosting a Robot Design Contest. Design an extraordinary robot using 3D modeling software and have it rapid prototyped by Legacy Effects Systems Engineer Jason Lopes. Maximum Print size is 12”(H) X 10”(W) X 7”(D). Use any 3D software program to design your robot. Upload a picture (Not 3D file) of your creation to this contest. All entrants (that’s you) must prepare your 3D files for rapid prototyping. If selected as a finalist you will send your 3D files for inspection. From these finalists a winner will be chosen. This design will be grown at Legacy Effects and mailed to your address!

  • Design an extraordinary robot using 3D modeling software
  • Maximum Print size is 12”(H) X 10”(W) X 7”(D)
  • Use any 3D software program to design your robot
  • Upload a picture (Not 3D file) of your creation to this contest

Additionally, the final design must obey the laws of physics, be water-tight, and thick enough to be 3D printed. The final design will be printed on a Stratasys Connex 500.

Need some inspiration? Take a look at this amazing behind the scenes look of the work that Legacy did for the design and development of the robots for Pacific Rim, as well as some other robots that the talented team has worked on:

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Full contest entry information can be found here.

(Images via Legacy Effects)

Author

Simon is a Brooklyn-based industrial designer and Managing Editor of EVD Media. When he finds the time to design, his focus is on helping startups develop branding and design solutions to realize their product design vision. In addition to his work at Nike and various other clients, he is the main reason anything gets done at EvD Media. He once wrestled an Alaskan alligator buzzard to the ground with his bare hands… to rescue Josh.