Robotic Manufacturing

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Simplifying Doubly Curved Concrete…

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Conference Paper: Peer Reviewed

Simplifying Doubly Curved Concrete: Post-Digital Expansion of Concrete’s Construction Solution Space

by Chan Z. and Crolla K.

ABSTRACT | This action research project develops a novel conceptual method for non-standardised concrete construction component fabrication and tests its validity through a speculative design project. The paper questions the practical, procedural and economic drivers behind the design and construction of geometrically complex concrete architecture. It proposes an alternative, simple and economical fabrication method for doubly curved concrete centred on the robotic manufacturing of casting moulds through 5-axis hotwire foam cutting for the making of doubly-curved fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) panels. These panels are used as light-weight sacrificial formwork for in-situ concrete casting. The methodology’s opportunity space is tested, evaluated and discussed through a conceptual architectural design project proposal that operates as demonstrator. The paper concludes by addressing the advantages of a design-and-build architecture delivery setup, the potential from using computational technology to adapt conventional design and construction procedures and the expanded role within the design and construction process this gives to architects.

KEYWORDS | Doubly Curved Concrete; Robotic Manufacture; Post-Digital Architecture; Design and Build; Casting Mould Making

DOWNLOAD | http://papers.cumincad.org/cgi-bin/works/paper/caadria2019_190

CITATION | Chan, Zion and Kristof Crolla, “Simplifying Doubly Curved Concrete: Post-Digital Expansion of Concrete’s Construction Solution Space.” In M. Haeusler, M. A. Schnabel, T. Fukuda (eds.), Intelligent & Informed – Proceedings of the 24th CAADRIA Conference – Volume 1, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand, 15-18 April 2019, pp. 23-32.

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Inflatable Architecture Production with…

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Conference Paper: Peer Reviewed

Inflatable Architecture Production with Cable-Driven Robots

by Fung E. and Crolla K.

ABSTRACT | This paper presents a design-methodological case study that looks into the practical expansion of conventional conceptual architectural design media by incorporating contemporary technology of motion capture. It discusses challenges of integrating dance movement as a real-time input parameter for architectural design that aims at translating body motion into space. The paper consists of four parts, beginning with a historic background overview of scientists, physiologists, artists, choreographers, and architects who have attempted capturing body motion and turning the motion into space. The second part of the paper discusses the iterative development of the ‘Dance Machine’ as a methodological tool for the integration of motion capture into conceptual architectural design. Thirdly, the paper discusses tested design applications of the ‘Dance Machine’ by looking at two sited applications. Finally, the overall methodology is critically assessed and discussed in the light of continuous development of creative applications of motion capturing technology. The paper concludes by highlighting the architectural potential found in specific qualities of dance and by advocating for a broader palette of tools, techniques, and input methods for the conceptual design of architecture.

KEYWORDS | Cable-driven Robots; In-situ Robotic Fabrication; Large-scale Fabrication; Inflatable Architecture; Cross-disciplinarity

DOWNLOAD |  http://papers.cumincad.org/cgi-bin/works/paper/caadria2018_052

CITATION | Fung, Enrica and Crolla, Kristof. “Choreographed Architecture – Body-Spatial Exploration”. in T. Fukuda, W. Huang, P. Janssen, K. Crolla, S. Alhadidi (eds.), Learning, Adapting and Prototyping – Proceedings of the 23rd CAADRIA Conference – Volume 1, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 17-19 May 2018, pp. 101-110

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CU-Brick Cable-Driven Robot for…

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Conference Paper: Peer Reviewed

CU-Brick Cable-Driven Robot for Automated Construction of Complex Brick Structures: From Simulation to Hardware Realisation

by Y. Wu, H. H. Cheng, A. Fingrut, K. Crolla, Y. Yam, and D. Lau

ABSTRACT | Robotic building construction has had significant advances in the recent decades, but also has various limitations. In particular, construction typically requires a robot to operate within a large space for long hours and be able to transport between sites. Cable-driven parallel robots (CDPRs) show strong potentials within the automation of construction due to its desirable characteristics, such as high payload-to-weight ratio, transportability, scalability and reconfigurability. This paper proposes a simulation-based analysis, design and pre-execution verification for a cable-driven brick structure building system (CU-Brick), among which a way to determine the buildable workspace where the construction could be constructed is proposed. Simulations are used to do the workspace analysis, design of the brick structure within the workspace and also verification that the motions can be executed. Using this simulation approach, real demonstrations have been performed to show that indeed the system is able to construct the brick structures safely and consistently.

KEYWORDS |Robots; Buildings; Winches; Grippers; Collision avoidance; Hardware; Automation

DOWNLOAD | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8376287/

CITATION | Y. Wu, H. H. Cheng, A. Fingrut, K. Crolla, Y. Yam and D. Lau, “CU-brick cable-driven robot for automated construction of complex brick structures: From simulation to hardware realisation,” 2018 IEEE International Conference on Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots (SIMPAR), Brisbane, Australia, 2018, pp. 166-173. doi: 10.1109/SIMPAR.2018.8376287