Augmented bricklaying
Human–machine interaction for in situ assembly of complex brickwork using object-aware augmented reality
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Date
2020
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
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.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
Journal / series
Volume
4 (3-4)
Pages / Article No.
151 - 161
Publisher
Springer
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
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Date collected
Date created
Subject
Augmented reality fabrication; Mixed reality fabrication; Human–computer interaction; Human–machine collaboration
Organisational unit
09570 - Hutter, Marco / Hutter, Marco
03708 - Gramazio, Fabio / Gramazio, Fabio