IDW 0032: Smuggling Aid

[Flip]

Compress images, they shouldn't be more than 200k


Topic: Smuggling Aid

Background: Future. Smuggling is risky business. Increased scrutiny means that new forms of deception have to be developed, and the odd altercation is still part of the job.


Brief:

1. Design a smuggling aid.

2. It should help hide smuggled goods or deceive inspectors.

3. It needs to be inconspicuous.

4. Bonus if it can help fight or escape.


Deadline: Saturday 17th February

[Legato]

well this one wasn't too hard...

[Corrick]

That... is the funniest shit I have seen all day. Seriously, can Legato win and we just go on to number 33?

[vonky]

One would certainly hope so. I can't imagine anything else that could win over that.

[Legato]

haha! google image search never fails! i was fortunate in finding a "male condom" though... something tells me a female one would be slightly... different

[evamonkeyn2]

omg hahahah legato = comic god. im still gonna try though.

[evamonkeyn2]

uh, am i going to be the only other person entering??? come on guys as funny as a condom is, it does not meet the criteria of being an original design, its a normal condom. It does not even do anything out of the ordinary that differentiates if from a current condom today.

[evamonkeyn2]

[evamonkeyn2]

Design write up.

What the police have code named baby boomer is one of the latest leaps in the arms war between customs officials and smuggling rings. The boomer is a self contained weapons and substance delivery package which takes the form of a human foetus at 40 weeks of development. The system is contained within a nano bonded dura skin prosthetic appliance designed to mimic the carriers skin tone, with half of the liquid solution being smuggled stored in the form of amniotic fluid sacs and the rest in faux mammary gland appliances.

Baby

The baby itself is a low level tactical AI comparable to a Lockheed M scout unit. On activation the units cranium splits to reveal a concealed 9 mm automatic pistol with drum fed ammo storage of 36 rounds. This can be fired both by the AI and manually in the systems automatic weapon mode. Once this has been expended the device automatically switches to hostage mode. The unit immediately seeks the nearest suitable life form (human) and latches onto it, scaling and than attaching to the head or chest. The unit has deployable serrated blades concealed within the radius ulna and fibula bones. Any attempt to approach or remove the unit will result in hostage death. The unit can relay demands via a comm link, and can receive a kill signal in the event of unconsciousness of the owner, or the activation of a pressure sensor in the owners mouth.

Thus far this system has not been beaten by customs or federal law enforcement, allowing for a hostage to be taken while the actual criminal, and the full amount of smuggled goods escapes. Once the clean signal is given, the unit detaches and seeks to remove itself from human contact. it then releases a small amount of liquid explosive from its cranial cavity allowing it to self terminate .

In the event the owners life signs terminate in its vicinity, it will track, attach to and destroy the owner, and evidence.

The baby's 'skeleton' itself is mostly made of a composite material cast into actual bone shapes via a 3d printing system. The skull interior is electromagnetically shielded, with a density ghost pattern representing the form of a human brain.

The units soft tissues are far more destructible than its real life counterpart with a consistency of light jello,They can easily be pushed through to allow proper handling of the unit in its manual weapon mode and are essentially present to fool MRIT scanners. This is also aided by a Density diffraction membrane built into the outer prosthetic appliance.

While the design is far from perfect and can be identified by a doctor specialising in pre natal physiology, the average official will be unable to detect the errors. AT this time the only workable solution is the design of a scanning AI capable of differentiating a boomer from an actual foetus, and even then, the unit is still capable of hostage taking and destruction. A counter terrorism unit is handling an investigation into conceptual defences against this weapon, until that time, the official stance is not to search pregnant woman in order to avoid a hostage situation.

[dragon4lunch]

Well, I'm certainly not entering any IDW contest as long as Flip or another moderator of this section shows up. The Medieval thread, in which I participated has been left hanging for weeks now.

[evamonkeyn2]

eh, that seems to happen... but i wouldnt worry about it ,it will go to judgement sooner or later.

[Flip]

Sorry guys, I'll try to be more regular with this. Here's the latest topic: Insurgents' Toolkit

Are there any more entries for this one or should I post the poll?

[PXLPropheT]

I really wanted to start taking part in this thread i really did try hard but couldnt think of what id wanted to smuggle great subject it kept me thinking hard for a week great entry with the baby boomer^^ it helped give me a idea of how to present a concept of this type ive never even tryed to design something^^ any tips on the desingning process and different ways to communicate it ?

[evamonkeyn2]

You should be looking to get as much said, with as few images as possible. Dragon for lunchs entry for medievil war machine is a much better example i think.

i knew i was going to need a number if images to explain this, so i used the max entry size, but made sure that each of the component drawing would be fully viewable while scrolling it, so you could always see one full drawing. I think it would be a mistake to do something so big that you have to scroll to see all of the one image, as it stops the voter taking in the overall design at once. Gorans la beta noir (sorry if i mispelled anything) is also an excellent example of using a large sheet but making it so that it has seperate elements the eye can look at.

Lastly, id say there is no prize for this. So it does not matter if you win or lose, rather you should design something that challenges you. For example, i wanted to put my recent attampts at memorisations of bone structure to practical use in a design and the concept grew from there.

In terms of the design process, the brief is key. The brief tells you what a client wants, and at the end of the day, you have to satisfy the client. Imagine the kind of person the client is and what he wants. That is as solid a start as any.

Be careful of straying from the brief even for a great idea, in 3rd year college we were asked to design a baby feeding station, with the implication that we were talking about a baby chair. However, a really all around class genius ( im not being smart, i have huge respect for this guy) decided to think outside the box and design a device for preparing baby feed(a baby feeding station), an extra smart choice since a baby feed company sponsored the project).

However, even though the design was awesome, they hit him with a D because they wanted a chair. So, the moral is, always question a fuzzy brief. XD

[D-Holme]

Flip - I have an entry that I can throw into the ring, haven't got it with me but I can put it up tonight.



PXLPrpheT
To expand on what evamonkeyn2 has said:
With the IDW the basic brief is defined, although there is considerable freedom within that, consider the elements of the brief and then write your ideas about that. From these ideas you can build a finalised brief for your own design.

E.g.
1. Design a smuggling aid.
Smuggling: to move goods covertly, generally across national boundaries - this device need to assist that
2. It should help hide smuggled goods or deceive inspectors.
Nature and capacity of cargo/Method of transport
3. It needs to be inconspicuous.
Concealable/camouflaged/invisible?
4. Bonus if it can help fight or escape.
Consider method of defence - will this hinder its ease of concealment. If it is to escape is this on its own or with an attendant smuggler – this may require some method of propulsion, artificial intelligence or remote control to sense when in trouble.

From this you can write a more specific brief, Eg:
i) A backpack that contains a chamber hidden from x-rays, that also includes folding para-wings so that a plucky smugglers can use flight to aid their escape if detected.
ii) Robotic geese that blend into migrating flocks whilst carrying their hidden cargos.
Or whatever else come to mind....

Once this is done you can start to produce a design to cover the brief. As part of this the following should be considered:
Use/Objective
Environment of operation
Technology/Materials
Endurance
Capacity
Size
Aesthetic importance
Components of a brief can be prioritised to aid the design process.


This is a very industrial approach to design but I felt it might help you explore the design process.

[D-Holme]

Well I had something in mind with submarines but it was a bit off topic so I decided to go with the Stealth-Robo Goose idea I gave in my example above.

There we go a competition of contraception, armed-infants and robotic-wildfowl.

------------------------------
The Wild Goose, referring perhaps to the nature of the device and the perceived difficulty in locating them.



The developer of this device is unknown but it was rumored to have been developed by a former security service employee. It has seen operation in many areas as a method of moving contraband and sensitive information across national boundaries. Basically a small robotic aircraft disguised as a goose or other large bird, this machine was successfully able to penetrate nation’s airspace by several key factors:
Surprise - when initial use began no-one conceived of smuggling in this manner
Camouflage - when airborne amongst large migratory flocks the 'Wild-Goose' is almost indistinguishable from a normal bird, as these flocks fly long distances they can easily be used to move between nation states.
Stealth - small size and composite materials make the 'Wild-Goose' hard to detect with visually or with radar. To enhance this, the 'Goose' is programmed with advanced algorithms causing it to when detected to engage in low-level and evasive flight which is frequently difficult to follow with conventional aircraft.

Features:
Composite and Alloy airframe - strong but light-weight
Motion provided by actuator driven wings, power provided by power-cells and thermo-electric generation due to temperature change – glides to converse power.
Guidance and control granted by onboard artificial intelligence and remote observation and operation link.
Defense provided by stealth algorithms and burst-EMP emitter operable when machine is in powered-down glide mode.

Operation:
Launched from a hook suspended on a rail launch sites are small and mobile, frequently a small lorry or van. The 'Wild-Goose' works best when deployed when launched into a flock of migratory bird of the same type the goose will then follow the flocks until it approaches its destination and detaches to make its delivery – unfortunately this means that use is ideally seasonal.
Upon reaching the target area the Goose broadcasts message to waiting ground team giving its collection location then performs a controlled crash-landing, sending out a final coded GPS coordinate before powering down and awaiting collection. Some sensitive examples also contain a self-destructive charge destroying itself and contents if it is not recovered within a set time limit.

The main disadvantage of this system is its small carrying load, making it ineffective for transporting the majority of normal contraband.