Autonomous Dry Stone
On-Site Planning and Assembly of Stone Walls with a Robotic Excavator
Author / Producer
Date
2020-12
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
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.
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Publication status
published
External links
Editor
Book title
Journal / series
Volume
4
Pages / Article No.
127 - 140
Publisher
Springer
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
On site robotics; Dry stone walls; Adaptive assembly
Organisational unit
03708 - Gramazio, Fabio / Gramazio, Fabio
03709 - Kohler, Matthias / Kohler, Matthias
09559 - Chli, Margarita (ehemalig) / Chli, Margarita (former)
09570 - Hutter, Marco / Hutter, Marco
02284 - NFS Digitale Fabrikation / NCCR Digital Fabrication