The Art team will explore the limitations imposed on the artistic expressions of the exterior due to environmental and design constraints. For example, the design of the machine must be functional, allow the machine to breath (i.e., dissipate circuitry heat), and be robust enough for the environment in which it will exist. These issues become limitations on the artistic expression, thus creating an example of a problem statement for the students to explore.

Even with these limitations, there are numerous areas to explore. What should the machine look like? Does the body look like a robot, a human, an animal, or an object? Does it look huggable or simply look like a machine? Does it look retro? Should it appear to be humble, smart, intelligent, peaceful, aggressive, or mean, and most importantly, why! If you were to design the machine, who you genderfy it, and why?

What type of material should the exterior of the machine be made of? In conjunction with the efforts of engineering, the art team could consider interchangeable parts. Can it have one appearance on one day, and assemble its looks differently the next day? What would the different looks be like?

Another problem statement relates to Art as created by the machine. Could a machine create an original work of art? In a 2015 article on Quartz Media, Mike Murphy described research work at the University of Tubingen in Germany where a new system can interpret the styles of famous painters and turn a photograph into a digital painting in those styles. The team can explore what type of styles they would teach a machine, and why?