Multi Operational Offworld Nomad (MOON) Rover

This was originally built for the ClassicSpace.com Moon Rover contest. The rules were simple; must fit within a 16x16x16 stud space, was not military or warfare based and must fit one or more minifigs, with bonus points awared to creative wheels.

There were a heap of great entries, so competition was quite stiff. My concept was a modular/multi-purpose vehicle capable of traversing rocky terrain. It was also an excuse to do something other than the obvious with those basketball nets. ;)

Key Features

• Solid core frame
• 4 wheel independent suspension
• Puncture proof, high traction 'net' wheels made from futuristic high-strength carbon-ploymer alloy
• Six high-intensity, focusing headlights (on Pilot and Passenger modules)

Utility Modules

• Pilot module with 'drive-by-wire' and telemetry computer
• Passenger science module (featuring a fully configurable, task-specific computer system)
• Hydrogen/oxygen power generator module
• Hydrogen and oxygen fuel tank and distributor
• Indicator and Emergency lighting fixutres
• Overhead emergency lighting pods
• Side insignia brackets
• Storage module with three cabinets, roof rack and long-range communication array
• Dual stretcher frame mounted on robotic arm

10 February 2008
Thank you for the comments, very much appreciated. It took ages to do the animated GIFs; I never appreciated how ridiculously time consuming stop motion animation is. Shooting each frame at each step, ensuring parts were in the same place as the frame before etc etc etc! I had to re-do both sequences thanks to continuity issues. I have a newfound respect for Aardman and anyone who has ever made a Lego movie! I had to pose the model and photograph each step, ensuring the model was in the same position for each shot. Once I had all the steps photo'd, I layered them all into a Photoshop doc, then used the animation and timing tools in Imageready to turn each layer into a frame, then exported as a GIF89a format.

(Yes, there are plans afoot for different tyres. With it's modular nature, it makes sense to be able to put different wheels on depending on the terrain. I'll add some photos in future. Thanks for stopping by!)

Also available on flickr.com.