Joints and pivots

The setup of the robot won't be complete without the correct placement of joints to create articulated areas between parts of the robot. To create a joint, we'll deal with helper objects placed between 3D models. The objective of those helpers is to add control over the pivot points for animation, without the need to change the center point of those objects. For instance, if we select any part of the robot's arm and try to rotate it, the result will be a rotation taking place from the center point of the 3D model. This is its pivot point.

To change this pivot point, we have two options—the setup of the center point on the sides of the 3D model or the addition of a helper object.

Using empties as helper objects

In Blender, we have an object called an Empty, which is mostly used as a helper for animation tasks. As the name says, the object has no geometry nor does it show up in render. It only works as a way to add controllers or new pivots to objects. To create a new...