ZooBots

The Rise of the Machines

Most of my work is oriented toward architecture, but I’ve always had a sweet spot for machines. I like when the mechanism is visible, when you can see the movement, understand the assemblies, and follow the process that led to the design and fabrication of the objects. I’ll give you this ultra-geek reference, which is the steampunk aesthetic of the orcs from Warhammer 40,000.

Something’s Crawling

One can probably trace a lineage of tastes in my appreciation for anything reptilian, crustacean, dinosaur-like, and other primitive creatures possessing scales, shells, and exoskeletons. While of course keeping a special place for insects, spiders, and anything that stings or bites.

Scary, Efficient, Kind of Nice

Grownups, quite unfairly, generally find all these creatures disgusting, whereas young children, with hearts and minds still pure and uncorrupted, tend to find them fascinating. Their armored, functional, articulated nature has often inspired the creation of robots. The older ones might remember the Insecticons, Dinobots, Tamagoras or Bakugan (crazy Japanese).

So reconnect with your childlike heart and keep reading.
And that being said, they can also be cute.

Spawning ZooBots

All the models in the ZooBots series are created using the modules from the Starter Set. To simplify the process (and give myself a bit of a challenge), I selected 24 modules out of the 64 in the set, and limited myself to those for all of them. Some bots use only 3 or 4 modules, while others may require more than a dozen. In some cases, since most of the creatures are symmetrical, I used pairs of identical modules.

The result gives a minimalist Cubist-Minecraft look, which my 11-year-old son certainly doesn’t mind. In fact, I have to give him credit, as he actively contributed to the design of these models.

ZooBots vs Fantastic Creatures

At first glance, Zoobots and Fantastic Creatures may look similar, but they are built differently.

Zoobots use the Starter Set modules, based on a 9×12 grid. Fantastic Creatures use a slightly different system, based on an 8×12 grid. That small shift makes it easier to build symmetrical and more organic forms.

Both belong to the same Modular Builder system and are fully compatible, but they were developed with different intentions.

Step By Step Builds

Each Bot has its own post with step-by-step assembly images.
You’ll see how the modules connect, in what order, and how the final form comes together.

→ Zoobot 01 - Frilled Lizard
→ More coming soon!