Construction Robotics

Journal: Construction Robotics

Abbreviation

Constr Robot

Publisher

Springer

ISSN

2509-8780
2509-811X

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Publications 1 - 10 of 16

Eggshell Pavilion: a reinforced concrete structure fabricated using robotically 3D printed formwork
Burger, Joris Jan; Aejmelaeus-Lindström, Petrus; Gürel, Seyma; et al. (2023)
Construction Robotics
This paper discusses the design, fabrication, and assembly of the ‘Eggshell Pavilion’, a reinforced concrete structure fabricated using 3D printed thin shell formwork. Formworks for columns and slabs were printed from recycled plastic using a pellet extruder mounted to a robotic arm. The formworks were cast and demoulded, and the finished elements were assembled into a pavilion, showcasing the architectural potential of 3D printed formwork. The Eggshell Pavilion was designed and fabricated within the scope of a design studio at ETH Zurich. The structure was designed using a fully parametric design workflow that allowed for incorporating changes into the design until the fabrication. The pavilion consists of four columns and floor slabs. Each column and floor slab is reinforced with conventional reinforcing bars. Two different methods are used for casting the columns and floor slabs. The columns are cast using ‘Digital casting systems’, a method for the digitally controlled casting of fast-hardening concrete. Digital casting reduces the hydrostatic pressure exerted on the formwork to a minimum, thereby enabling the casting of tall structures with thin formwork. The floor slabs are cast with a commercially available concrete mix, as the pressure exerted on the formwork walls is lower than for the columns. In this research, 3D printed formwork is combined with traditional reinforcing, casting, and assembly methods, bringing the technology closer to an industrial application.
Tie a knot: human–robot cooperative workflow for assembling wooden structures using rope joints
Mitterberger, Daniela; Atanasova, Lidia; Dörfler, Kathrin; et al. (2022)
Construction Robotics
In recent years, research in computational design and robotic fabrication in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) has made remarkable advances in automating construction processes, both in prefabrication and in-situ fabrication. However, little research has been done on how to leverage human-in-the-loop processes for large-scale robotic fabrication scenarios. In such processes, humans and robots support each other in fabrication operations that neither of them could handle alone, leading to new opportunities for the AEC domain. In this paper, we present Tie a knot, an experimental study that introduces a set of digital tools and workflows that enables a novel human–robot cooperative workflow for assembling a complex wooden structure with rope joints. The system is designed for a dually augmented human–robot team involving two mobile robots and two humans, facilitated by a shared digital-physical workspace. In this shared workspace, digital spatial data informs humans about the design space and fabrication-related boundary conditions for decision-making during assembly. As such, humans can manually place elements at locations of their choice, following a set of design rules that affect the gradual evolution of the structure. In direct response to such manually placed elements, the cooperating robots can continue the assembly cycle by precisely placing elements and stabilizing the overall structure. During robotic stabilization, the humans make rope connections, which require high dexterity. The concept and workflow were physically implemented and validated through the cooperative assembly of a complex timber structure over five days. As part of this experimental investigation, we demonstrated and evaluated the performance of two tracking methods that allowed the digitization of the manually placed elements. In closing, the paper discusses the technological challenges and how a hybrid human–robot team could open new avenues for digital fabrication in architecture, accelerating the adoption of robotic technology in AEC.
Autonomous Dry Stone
Johns, Ryan Luke; Wermelinger, Martin; Mascaro, Ruben; et al. (2020)
Construction Robotics
On-site robotic construction not only has the potential to enable architectural assemblies that exceed the size and complexity practical with laboratory-based prefabrication methods, but also offers the opportunity to leverage context-specific, locally sourced materials that are inexpensive, abundant, and low in embodied energy. We introduce a process for constructing dry stone walls in situ, facilitated by a customized autonomous hydraulic excavator. Cabin-mounted LiDAR sensors provide for terrain mapping, stone localization and digitization, and a planning algorithm determines the placement position of each stone. As the properties of the materials are unknown at the beginning of construction, and because error propagation can hinder the efficacy of pre-planned assemblies with non-uniform components, the structure is planned on-the-fly: the desired position of each stone is computed immediately before it is placed, and any settling or unexpected deviations are accounted for. We present the first result of this geometric- and motion-planning process: a 3-m-tall wall composed of 40 stones with an average weight of 760 kg.
Beyond transparency: architectural application of robotically fabricated polychromatic foat glass
Giesecke, Rena; Clemente, Rémy; Mitropoulou, Ioanna; et al. (2022)
Construction Robotics
This research investigates robotically fabricated polychromatic float glass for architectural applications. Polychromatic glass elements usually require labor-intensive processes or are limited to film applications of secondary materials onto the glass. Previous research employs computer numerical control (CNC) based multi-channel granule deposition to manufacture polychromatic relief glass; however, it is limited in motion, channel control, and design space. To expand the design and fabrication space for the manufacture of mono-material polychromatic glass elements, this paper presents further advancements using a UR robotic arm with an advanced multi-channel dispenser, linear and curved-paths granule deposition, customized color pattern design approaches, and a computational tool for the prediction and rendering of outcomes. A large-scale demonstrator serves as a case study for upscaling. Robotic multi-channel deposition and tailored computational design tools are employed to facilitate a full-scale installation consisting of eighteen large glass panels. Novel optical properties include locally varying color, opacity, and texture filter light and view. The resulting product constructs sublime architectural experiences through light refraction, reflection, color, opacity - beyond mere transparency.
Beyond googly eyes: stakeholder perceptions of robots in construction
Walzer, Alexander N.; Kahlert, Aniko; Baumann, Micha; et al. (2022)
Construction Robotics
The interest in advanced robotic equipment in construction has increased in recent years. However, actual industry adoption lags behind—and fundamental considerations might be at fault. To date, little scholarship in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) addresses the stakeholder perception of construction robot design. Therefore, we ask, “How do visual attributes of a construction robot influence the perception of AEC stakeholders?” To conduct our study, we performed a bibliometric analysis on a corpus of 59 scholarly research articles, 5 expert interviews and created and pre-validated a robot database of 50 robot pictures classified on their visual attributes of morphology, color and material. As a result, we present a study with 161 construction professionals who judged these robots based on three visual main criteria: ease of use, work task adaptability and risk of job loss. In total, more than 6500 data points are collected and analyzed using binary logistic regression. The five key findings are that construction professionals perceive that: (1) Zoomorphic (animal-like) robots are easier to use than anthropomorphic (human-like) or mechanomorphic (machine-like) robots, (2) Bright robots are easier to use than dark robots, (3) Zoomorphic and anthropomorphic robots are more multifunctional than mechanomorphic robots, (4) Anthropomorphic and mechanomorphic robots are more of a risk to job loss than zoomorphic robots, and (5) Dark robots are more of a risk to job loss than bright ones. These results are important for academics and practitioners that aim to increase the likelihood of positive stakeholder perception of robots in construction. The findings can further help to develop specific user-centered design principles. Such implementation can reduce the risk of construction professionals rejecting future robots when they are introduced at the AEC job site.
Crafting plaster through continuous mobile robotic fabrication on‑site
Ercan, Selen; Lloret-Fritschi, Ena; Gramazio, Fabio; et al. (2020)
Construction Robotics
Robotic embankment
Jud, Dominic; Hurkxkens, Ilmar; Girot, Christophe; et al. (2021)
Construction Robotics
Automating earth-moving tasks has the potential to resolve labour-shortage, allow for unseen designs and foster sustainability through using on-site materials. In this interdisciplinary project involving robotics and landscape architecture, we combine our previous work on autonomous excavation of free-form shapes, dynamic landscape design and terrain modelling tools into a robotic landscape system. It tightly connects survey, design and fabrication to exchange information in real-time during fabrication. We purposely built a LiDAR survey drone for tight integration. The design environment contains terrain modelling tools to balance cut and fll volumes for material-neutral, on-site construction. Its parametric nature allows it to adapt the geometry to changing site conditions during fabrication. Our autonomous walking excavator is used to create these free-form shapes in natural granular material. We propose an excavation planner for free-form embankments that computes the next excavation location and subsequently the location where the excavated soil should be dumped. This robotic excavation system achieves the world’s frst autonomous completion of free-form embankments with high accuracy. A 20 m long S-shaped and a two-faced embankment with a corner with roughly 0.03–0.05 m average error were created.
Depth-camera-based rebar detection and digital reconstruction for robotic concrete spraying
Frangez, Valens; Lloret-Fritschi, Ena; Taha, Nizar; et al. (2021)
Construction Robotics
In this paper, we tackle the challenge of detection and accurate digital reconstruction of steel rebar meshes using a set of industrial depth cameras. A construction example under investigation in this paper is robotic concrete spraying, where material is sprayed onto double-curved single layered rebar meshes. Before the spraying process can start, the location and geometry of the rebar mesh needs to be accurately know. We present an automatic image-based processing approach of depth images for grid point extraction at an accuracy of a few mm. Furthermore, we propose a sequence of execution steps in a robotic setup, including the hand–eye calibration, which enables the direct georeferencing of multiple data sets acquired from various poses into a common coordinate system. With the proposed approach we are able to digitally reconstruct a mesh of an unknown geometry in under 10 min with an accuracy better than 5 mm. The digitally reconstructed mesh allows for computation of material needed for its construction, enabling sustainable use of concrete in digital fabrication. The accurately reconstructed digital mesh, generated based on the proposed approach in this paper, is the input for the following spraying step, allowing for generation of accurate spray trajectories.
Augmented bricklaying
Mitterberger, Daniela; Dörfler, Kathrin; Sandy, Timothy; et al. (2020)
Construction Robotics
Augmented bricklaying explores the manual construction of intricate brickwork through visual augmentation, and applies and validates the concept in a real-scale building project—a fair-faced brickwork facade for a winery in Greece. As shown in previous research, robotic systems have proven to be very suitable to achieve various differentiated brickwork designs with high efficiency but show certain limitations, for example, in regard to spatial freedom or the usage of mortar on site. Hence, this research aims to show that through the use of a craft-specific augmented reality system, the same geometric complexity and precision seen in robotic fabrication can be achieved with an augmented manual process. Towards this aim, a custom-built augmented reality system for in situ construction was established. This process allows bricklayers to not depend on physical templates, and it enables enhanced spatial freedom, preserving and capitalizing on the bricklayer’s craft of mortar handling. In extension to conventional holographic representations seen in current augmented reality fabrication processes that have limited context-awareness and insufficient geometric feedback capabilities, this system is based on an object-based visual–inertial tracking method to achieve dynamic optical guidance for bricklayers with real-time tracking and highly precise 3D registration features in on-site conditions. By integrating findings from the field of human–computer interfaces and human–machine communication, this research establishes, explores, and validates a human–computer interactive fabrication system, in which explicit machine operations and implicit craftsmanship knowledge are combined. In addition to the overall concept, the method of implementation, and the description of the project application, this paper also quantifies process parameters of the applied augmented reality assembly method concerning building accuracy and assembly speed. In the outlook, this paper aims to outline future directions and potential application areas of object-aware augmented reality systems and their implications for architecture and digital fabrication.
Rock Print Pavilion: robotically fabricating architecture from rock and string
Aejmelaeus-Lindström, Petrus; Rusenova, Gergana; Ammar, Mirjan; et al. (2020)
Construction Robotics
In this paper, we present novel techniques and tools for mobile robotic in situ fabrication of fibre reinforced granular structures outdoors. The research focuses on Jammed Architectural Structures (JAS), a material system that combines granular jamming with strategically placed reinforcement creating robust yet fully reversible structures from crushed rock and string. An architectural implementation of robotic fabrication of JAS requires research on the material system to optimize fabrication speed and on the robotic fabrication method to adapt it for mobile robotic fabrication on uneven ground. There is also a need for building strategies to protect the structure from weathering and making it safe for the public. A novel robotic fabrication method with a fabrication speed that is acceptable for experimental construction and enables fabrication of building-scale dimensions on uneven ground is presented. The presented research consists of three experiments: a column built with a novel reinforcement pattern, a wall element built with a novel end-effector and a building that incorporates the findings from the two first experiments built in situ outdoors with a mobile robot. The conclusion is that robotic fabrication of JAS is suitable for outdoor constructions, that it can be used to create enclosed space that is geometrically articulated and allows for openings and that it is suitable for structural and load-bearing elements. Finally, future work on how to increase the lifespan of the material system and how to increase the fabrication speed further is outlined and discussed. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

Publications 1 - 10 of 16

Journal: Construction Robotics

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