Robots in Architecture, Research and Development

Abstract

Thanks to the growing awareness of the integration of design, material, and production process, and thanks to increasingly widespread digital technologies, new perspectives for the construction industry and new opportunities for designers and system integrators are emerging. The key players of this scenario are industrial robots, manipulators that move along programmed paths and process any material with precision and speed.

Thanks to the growing awareness of the integration of design, material, and production process, and thanks to increasingly widespread digital technologies, new perspectives for the construction industry and new opportunities for designers and system integrators are emerging. The key players of this scenario are industrial robots, manipulators that move along programmed paths and process any material with precision and speed. After ten years of research into robotic fabrication and automation in the field of architecture, the aesthetic and functional potential generated is transforming architectural design and construction culture on a grand scale. This potential emerges clearly when the elements that make up architecture generate patterns where variation plays an important role in defining gradients of transformation, whether it be of shape, structure, or performance in the energy field (Figs. 1 and 2).

Fig. 1

Algorithmic design platform canvas—Grasshopper for Rhino. Indexlab 2010, Politecnico di Milano

Fig. 2

Custom-made script to control a six axis anthropomorphic robot. Indexlab 2011, Politecnico di Milano

Thanks to the use of mathematical models to manage variations, it is possible to generate structures in which the whole is more than the sum of the individual parts. This leads to the design of buildings and objects that vaunt new expressive connotations, so the time has now come to design competitive production systems for delivering consistently differentiated elements. The cutting-edge aspect of robotics applicable to architecture is the serial production of nonstandard, bespoke elements—known as mass customization—using automated processing and assembly techniques. The industrial robot is flexible and adaptable by nature and can perform repetitive operations using different tools (called end-effectors), managing tasks with extreme precision and speed; a range of action of at least six degrees means it can perform complex, manifold manipulations and manufacturing processes.

The experiments conducted make the best use of robot performance while investigating the characteristics of different materials, evolving a new way of conceiving the processes and opening up new design methods, where form is not arbitrary, but linked to the production method. The focus is not so much on designing forms as a priority as compared to defining rules that use algorithms to govern construction processes operated by robots. The fundamental contribution in this area, deriving from university research over the past decade, was the invention of adaptive and flexible systems that facilitate the design and the manufacturing process of components used in building construction, combining serial production with personalization. The goal is to combine form and performance in different components using the intrinsic properties and mutual efficiency of different materials: an engineering process that uses computational design and heralds a sustainable built environment, with a greater degree of functionality and integration between the products and the environment. These new design and production techniques can expedite the creative process and produce architecture that is totally coherent for concept and construction.

In the scientific community, Gramazio & Kohler is a name synonymous with robotics applied to architecture. At ETH Zurich, Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler founded the first digital fabrication laboratory in 2005. Their research has influenced dozens of universities and hundreds of researchers and in addition, they have pursued several experiments, from oriented repetitive module assembly following predefined patterns to the use of fluid materials.

An important step towards the development of robotic fabrication research was made by Sigrid Brell-Cokcan and Johannes Braumann. In 2010 they founded what was initially a TU Wien spinoff: The International Association for Robots in Architecture. The goal was to build a network of research laboratories and to spread the culture of robotic fabrication. In 2011, they released KUKA|prc, a plug-in for Grasshopper, which enabled robot control directly within CAD for the first time.

In France, Philippe Morel was one of the first theorists and innovators to have sensed the potential of robots and his EZCT architecture firm, co-founded with Felix Agid and Jelle Feringa, was a pioneer in applying robots to research. In 2010, it was precisely at EZCT that Thibault Schwartz began to write HAL control software. The next year, the software was launched and contributed to the growing use of robots by students, architects and designers. During the same period, Jelle Feringa founded a laboratory in the Netherlands at Rotterdam’s RDM campus as part of a Ph.D. project at the TU Delft—Hyperbody lab. Its contributions were significant: in 2012 he produced an application with diamond wire for cutting concrete and marble, and within the following year, this led to important industrial developments. His research team is currently engaged in trials of robotic three-dimensional printing of concrete. Another important reference in the scientific community is Achim Menges, whose successful experience at the London Architectural Association was followed, in 2008, by the foundation of the Stuttgart Institute of Computational Design (ICD). Here, each year since 2010, his research team has created a research pavilion using state-of-the-art design and process techniques using different materials (from wood to composite materials with carbon fiber), exploring their characteristics and potential. In Italy, the research proposed and developed by Indexlab at Milan Polytechnic, with support of the departments of mechanical engineering and of architecture, built environment and construction engineering, together with the contribution of private companies, is part of this scientific-operational community. Indexlab presented original contributions starting from “Advances in Architectural Geometry 2012” (Bitmap-driven parametric wall for robotic fabrication, Fig. 3). Thanks to the interest and support of partner companies, the research at Indexlab has grown fast, pioneering flexible and automated production processes which are more competitive than current—state-of-the-art—manufacturing methods. Robotic assembly for free-form structures and claddings using robotic placement of differentiated flat panels with adaptive attachment is just one example (Figs. 4 and 5). Equally significant is the system that generates new applications using robotic reconfigurable mold production processes along with thermoforming processes (Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9).

Fig. 3

Bitmap-driven parametric wall for robotic fabrication. Indexlab 2012, Politecnico di Milano

Fig. 4

Circle packing. Robotic pick and place and adaptive welding. Indexlab 2013, Politecnico di Milano, Nieder

Fig. 5

Circle packing façade. Indexlab 2013, Politecnico di Milano, Nieder

Fig. 6

Design of rulings for robotic hot-wire cutting. Indexlab 2014, Politecnico di Milano

Fig. 7

Robotic hot-wire cutting and thermoforming. Indexlab 2014, Politecnico di Milano

Fig. 8

Photos of a foam mold (left), thermoformed with a PVC sheet (right). Indexlab 2014, Politecnico di Milano

Fig. 9

Panel results over different geometries. Indexlab 2014, Politecnico di Milano

In the United States, testing began and developed in the same way as in Europe, with constant contact and swapping of information with European researchers. Wes McGee and Brandon Clifford initiated the robotic fabrication experiments at Taubman college and hosted Rob/Arch 2014 (conference on Robotics in Architecture) at the University of Michigan. The 2016 edition of Rob/Arch moved to Australia and teamed up with prominent Australian Universities to co-chair international workshops: RMIT, Monash University, Bond University, UNSW, and UTS. Beyond Rob/Arch, there were, and there still are, various opportunities for exchange and mutual growth through international conferences and workshops on digital and robotic fabrication, such as Smartgeometry, Advances in Architectural Geometry, Fabricate, and ACADIA.

Academic research coupled with new industrial technologies in this area are spawning new companies, where design and fabrication occur simultaneously. There are several emerging start-ups committed to innovating production methods for serial repetition. In Switzerland, for example, ROB Technologies deals with engineering of non-standard applications for the assembly of brick blocks, wood, and ceramic elements. In Denmark, ODICO Formwork Robotics applies robotic cutting to molds for production of individual concrete elements (Jelle Feringa is now Chief Technology Officer within Odico). In France, XTreeE (ex-EZCT team and ex-students from Philippe Morel and Thibault Schwartz) is the first company to commercialize robotic large-scale 3D printing technology for the architectural design, engineering and construction sector. These are communities committed to seeking new applications, new interfaces, and management software (Figs. 10, 11 and 12).

Fig. 10

Robotic pick-and-place of reconfigurable mold elements: images of the process. Indexlab 2015, Politecnico di Milano

Fig. 11

Setup for concrete casting over the generated molds (left); Final composition (right). Indexlab 2015, Politecnico di Milano

Fig. 12

Delaunay façade. Robotic adaptive assembly. Indexlab 2017 (Pierpaolo Ruttico)—Mecc (Francesco Braghin), Politecnico di Milano

Inventing new production approaches and delving into corresponding design approaches allows architects, designer and engineers to raise awareness of “doing it the digital way”.

The use of robotic fabrication in architecture and construction has grown rapidly over the last decade, and continues to accelerate as the potential for innovation and creativity using robots is harnessed by the creative industries. Beyond setting protocols and automation processes for fabrication, we are expanding the possibilities of human-machine interactions for collaboration in industry. This has the real potential to lift economic growth for the building construction industries.