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Awakened Structures - Rethinking Deployable Structures Through CRC
Deployable structures have found widespread use in aerospace and civil engineering due to their space-saving, transport-friendly, and sustainable characteristics, yet their integration into architecture and construction has been hindered by the substantial energy consumption and extensive site preparations required for their erection. Despite the recent advancements in automation technologies, particularly in robotic fabrication, which have opened up new avenues in architectural assembly processes, there remains a scarcity of research focusing on the sustainable and scalable assembly of deployable structures.
This research introduces a material-robot framework for deployable construction, wherein a group of mobile robots transport, deploy, assemble, disassemble, or reconfigure deployable building blocks to aggregate large-scale temporary structures during construction. The current development encompasses discrete deployable building units, mobile robots, material-robot collaboration behaviors, and an assembly algorithm that simulates the build sequence and path planning for robot movements during assembly. Our approach adheres to the principle of material-robot co-design, wherein the attributes of the deployable building unit inform the design of the robots in terms of their locomotion, geometry, scale, kinematics, and actuation. Conversely, the desired simplicity in robot locomotion and actuation influences the embedded features, scale, and deployment mechanism of the building unit.
This system is envisioned to bridge the gap between collective robotic construction (CRC) and deployable structures, advancing ongoing research in material-robot CRC systems. The system will boost assembly efficiency and enable the flexibility of disassembly and reconfigurability in temporary building structures, which traditionally are static and rigid, resulting in material waste, lengthy construction times, and a short building lifecycle. The system holds promise for application in scenarios where agile assembly is preferred, such as temporary scaffoldings that require rapid adjustment based on varying construction needs or temporary shelters situated in hazardous or remote locations where human workers’ involvement may be challenging.
ITECH M.Sc. Thesis Project 2023: Awakened Structures - Rethinking Deployable Structures Through CRC
Xin Sun, Chiayen Wu
Thesis Advisers: Samuel Leder, Lior Skoury, Philipp KragI
Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Achim Menges
Second Supervisor: Prof. Thomas Wortmann