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Connecting design and fabrication through algorithms: current and future prospects for AEC
Abstract
Algorithmic Design (AD) tools enable the creation of geometrically complex architectural shapes that might be challenging to manufacture. This paper presents an overview of recent design-to-fabrication processes based on AD. It reflects on how AD can help overcome fabrication limitations and enhance the connection between architectural geometry, material, and manufacturing, approximating design exploration and construction.
After analysing the literature on AD-based design-to-fabrication processes, the research identifies methodological trends, showing that AD is often used to increase (1) design flexibility, (2) tool interoperability, and (3) control over design manufacturing. It also reveals that custom and standard algorithms are equally used at early-stage design tasks, but that custom algorithms are markedly more used at later stages, where the amount of data and level of detail are higher. The research concludes with a critical reflection on the still-existing design-to-fabrication barriers and proposes future research directions.
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The paper describes the fi ndings of the applied research project by Institute Integrative Design (currently ICDP) HGK FHNW and ERNE AG Holzbau to design and manufacture prefabricated wooden façades in the collaborative design manner between architects and industry. As such, it is an attempt to respond to the current interdisciplinary split in construction, which blocks innovation and promotes standardized ineffi cient building solutions. Within this project, we apply three innovations in the industrial setup that result in the integrated design-to-production process of individualized, cost-effi cient, and well-crafted façades. The collaborative design approach is a method in which architect, engineer, and manufacturer start exchange on the early stage of the project during the collaborative design workshops. Digital design and fabrication tools enable architects to generate a large scope of façade variations within the production feasibility of the manufacturer, and engineers to prepare fi les for robotic production. Novel multi-robot fabrication processes, developed with the industrial partner, allow for complex façade assembly. This paper introduces the concept of digital craftsmanship, manifested in a mixed fabrication system, which intelligently combines automated and manual production to obtain economic feasibility and highest aesthetic quality. Finally, we describe the design and fabrication of the project demonstrator consisting of four intricate façades on a modular offi ce building, inspired by local traditional solutions, which validate the developed methods and highlight the architectural potential of the presented approach.
This paper describes the design, fabrication, and testing process of an optimised, reinforced concrete ribbed floor slab fabricated using robotically 3D printed formwork. The design of the floor slab is based on the alignment of ribs along the trajectories of the principal bending moments. A workflow is described that generates a rib layout based on structural analysis, which is used to create a three-dimensional model of the slab. A full-scale prototype is fabricated by using an industrial robotic arm with a pellet extruder mounted as an end effector to 3D print the formwork. Reinforcement is inserted and the formwork is cast using self-compacting concrete. The successful design, fabrication, and structural testing of the full-scale floor slab prototype showed that the described workflow is suitable for realizing material-optimised, ribbed reinforced concrete floor slabs using 3D printed formwork.
Recent developments in industrial robotics present an increasing degree of control in additive manufacturing, enabling customization of architectural building components at the scale of the individual unit. Combining the affordances of a 6-axis robotic arm, paste- based extrusion, and terracotta clay, Modulo Continuo presents methods for part-customization of evaporative cooling facade modules. The design of the facade modules is developed firstly at the scale of the tectonic unit - as a self-supporting, interlocking modular system of curved modules with an embedded water reservoir for evaporative cooling. Second, this is developed at the scale of the toolpath - in which the density of the infill geometry in the modules is calibrated based on principles of evaporative cooling. This research presents aesthetic and performative opportunities through an exploration of infill patterning and density of modules based on evaporative cooling requirements. To produce each curved module through additive manufacturing, curved CNC milled substrates are used to support the geometry while accommodating clay shrinkage. Furthermore, this paper presents novel digital workflows for the customization of a modular façade system and the generation of variable toolpaths for infill patterns. By developing additive manufacturing methodologies for part- customization, the research presents future opportunities for the digital fabrication of ceramic construction elements.
Digital fabrication tools are typically employed to materialize a fixed design. Design limits the choice of material; Natural material behavior may be considered as flaws in the fabrication. What if these tools and material behaviors are being used as sketching tools to generate new design ideas? In this paper, we present a workflow in which digital fabrication tools, specifically robotic arms, are used as sketching tools. It is called robotic sketching; The goal is to sketch with effects of fabrication settings on emerging behaviors of materials in the first steps of design. We exemplify this workflow with a case on robotic clay 3D printing
Recent developments in computational design and digital fabrication with concrete enable the realization of freeform geometries that optimize material use. 3D Concrete extrusion Printing (3DCP) is presently one of the most utilized digital fabrication methods with concrete. The expected advantages of 3DCP result from shaping concrete without formwork and from placing material only where functionally required. Although these advantages were pointed out more than 20 years ago, it is difficult to find competitive examples and their usage in real buildings. Consequently, the nonspecific character of the process acts as a shortcoming by opening up extensive possibilities without a clear direction. This paper proposes an automated 3DCP prefabrication platform for customized columns. The process-specific parameters are, therefore, fine-tuned for high-quality products with diverse forms and textures. Additionally, this paper proposes an evaluation method for geometric complexity and identifies the types of column typologies that may benefit from a 3DCP prefabrication platform.
This paper discusses the digital automation workflows and co-design methods that made possible the comprehensive robotic prefabrication of the BUGA Wood Pavilion-a large-scale production case study of robotic timber construction. Latest research in architectural robotics often focuses on the advancement of singular aspects of integrated digital fabrication and computational design techniques. Few researchers discuss how a multitude of different robotic processes can come together into seamless, collaborative robotic fabrication workflows and how a high level of interaction within larger teams of computational design and robotic fabrication experts can be achieved. It will be increasingly important to discuss suitable methods for the management of robotics and computational design in construction for the successful implementation of robotic fabrication systems in the context of the industry. We present here how a co-design approach enabled the organization of computational design decisions in reciprocal feedback with the fabrication planning, simulation and robotic code generation. We demonstrate how this approach can implement direct and curated reciprocal feedback between all planning domains-paving the way for fast-paced integrative project development. Furthermore, we discuss how the modularization of computational routines simplify the management and computational control of complex robotic construction efforts on a per-project basis and open the door for the flexible reutilization of developed digital technologies across projects and building systems.
One of the major downsides of concrete construction is the difficulty to be adapted, modified and deconstructed. In this work, we look at the potential enabled by the use of Additive Formwork based on Fused Deposition Modelling, in order to design and manufacture structural elements which can be assembled and disassembled easily. We call this new typology of structures Circular Concrete Construction. The paper illustrates an integrated computational workflow, which encompasses design and fabrication. Technological aspects of the 3D printed formwork and its application in reversible node and strut connections are described, with reference to the material and structural aspects, as well as prototyping experiments. The work is a proof of concept that opens perspectives for a new type of reversible concrete construction.
Doubly-curved ribbed concrete shells are a materially efficient means of spanning large areas such as roofs and floors. However, the fabrication of such structures poses challenges in terms of formwork manufacturing as well as material deposition. This has led to their decline compared to more prismatic shapes such as flat slabs which can be manufactured more economically. This paper presents a novel fabrication process called Automated Robotic Concrete Spraying (ARCS) by which glass fibre reinforced concrete (GFRC) is sprayed onto a curved formwork to create thin shell components of variable thickness. The trajectory planning and generation algorithm developed and implemented in ARCS to create such components is presented. Two sets of prototype shells were fabricated: one which forms the segments of a larger structural floor demonstrator and another consisting of a single component with deep ribs on a thin shell. The sequencing used to generate the spray paths for each component is outlined, with each prototype using two different strategies to add ribs onto the fabricated shells. While the fabrication process has been used in conjunction with a pin-bed mould actuating flexible formwork to create the spraying surface, the trajectory planning approach is adaptable enough such that any formwork can be utilised. Combined with the output speed of material deposition, ARCS offers the potential to enable mass production and customisation of doubly-curved ribbed structural concrete shells of variable thickness as an industrial process at an architectural scale.
Robotic fabrication plays an essential role for the construction industry in the pursuit of higher productivity and greater flexibility. Modular robotic systems enable the off-site prefabrication of components for high-performance building systems from wood or fiber composites, while digital planning methods and computational design enable the efficient planning of highly specialized and unique lightweight structures. However, existing manufacturing systems do not provide an interface between the two domains that allows to utilize their combined potential. Manufacturing instructions for the individual components are currently generated directly from the design model and don’t consider the precise setup and configuration of the modular system. The parametric description in computational design thus ends in the planning phase and is converted into a non-parametric description in native robot code, losing a lot of information in the process. For a continuous description of the building components from planning to fabrication, a data model for the parametric description of the fabrication tasks is therefore needed. We present and such a data model for timber and fiber prefabrication applications. The model allows the generic description of the manufacturing process within a task graph, which gives the manufacturing system a way of adapting the tasks to its specific configuration and setup. In addition to the description of jobs, tasks and actions, the model also includes a description of the considered manufacturing environment, as well as a monitoring component for the acquisition of sensor values and system configurations for individual tasks. This not only allows the identification of manufacturing issues like collisions ahead of time, but also enables the implementation of a feed-back loop for iterative optimization of the paths for any given environment. In this work, we give the design considerations for this data model.
The level of automation in the construction industry is currently low, and there is a growing need for new fabrication techniques that can bring more flexibility. This paper aims to introduce an optical tool which can bring the digital fabrication data on the building site in a real-time procedure to facilitate construction of complex brick structures. This tool consists of three custom-made two-axis laser pointer devices, a micro-controller, and a processor that enable the user to identify the exact location of the objects in the real world. Additionally, a controlling sub-system is considered to reduce human errors. The efficacy of the proposed system was studied by four full-scale prototypes. The results showed that the average lateral error was 2.5 mm, the average orientation error was 1°, and the average construction time for each module was 27 s. This tool can provide more flexibility for constructing complex brick structures on the building site.
Metal joints play a relevant role in space frame constructions,
being responsible for large amount of the overall material and
fabrication cost. Space frames which are constructed with standardized
metal joints are constrained to repetitive structures and topologies. For
customized space frames, the fabrication of individual metal joints still
remains a challenge. Traditional fabrication methods such as sand
casting are labour intensive, while direct 3D metal printing is too
expensive and slow for the large volumes needed in architecture.This
research investigates the use of Binder Jetting technology to 3D print
sand molds for casting bespoke metal joints in architecture. Using
this approach, a large number of custom metal joints can be fabricated
economically in short time. By automating the generation of the
joint geometry and the corresponding mold system, an efficient digital
process chain from design to fabrication is established. Several design
studies for cast metal joints are presented. The approach is successfully
tested on the example of a full scale space frame structure incorporating
almost two hundred custom aluminum joints.
Stonework is a longstanding construction tradition, encompassing a multitude of manual tools and techniques for transforming raw material into building elements. Advancements in robotic fabrication allow revisiting these practices using digital tools. However, stonework is complex to automate due to unpredictable material behavior. Therefore, there is a continued demand for skilled stone-carvers to perform custom tasks. The paper addresses this challenge by presenting and demonstrating adaptive robotic stone carving. Expanding existing research on digital stonework, human-robot craft transfer, and robotic fabrication, it puts forth a computational strategy for documenting, analyzing, and simulating manual stonework and their transfer to adaptive robotic carving protocols for surface finishing and detailing. Custom tools developed to this end, including a multi-tool end-effector and supporting middleware, are presented alongside experiments. The results indicate the potential of automating complex stonework and augmenting the sensibility and the skill of craftsmen to increase the resilience of future construction.
Many modern commercial buildings involve complex shaped façades, resulting in increasing complexity as well as challenges in façade manufacturing and assembly processes. Currently, the keys to manufacture façade panels are fabrication drawings. However, generating fabrication drawings for façade panels using conventional approaches is time-consuming and error-prone, especially when the number of façade panels gets large. Computer-aided automation can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of the manufacturing and assembly process, while conventional drawing automation processes are not able to integrate information from various data sources and optimize drawing layouts. In this paper, a BIM-based framework is proposed to facilitate the automatic generation of fabrication drawings for façade panels. The framework integrates both graphical and non-graphical information from BIM models and other external data sources. Specific algorithms are applied to obtain proper drawing views and optimize drawing layouts based on the BIM geometric models. Complete fabrication drawings as well as a tabulated file with essential graphical information on similar components are generated automatically. The framework is demonstrated using an illustrative example and it shows that time and human effort can be significantly reduced. As a result, all the fabrication drawings of similar façade panels follow a consistent drawing format with explicit layout, leading to higher readability.
Using a number of built demonstrators, this paper describes a computational design and fabrication method for timber assembly, based on the notion of discreteness. This research attempts to combine aspects of the field of Digital Materials and Programmable Matter with the architectural field of Prefabrication and Modularity. While these two fields are at opposing ends of the spectrum in terms of scale and functional operation, this research proposes that many of the properties and challenges are transferable.
