The European timber industry has successfully implemented the cascading utilization of wood for several decades, downcycling material resources at the end of each product cycle by turning them into new industrial commodities through additional manufacturing procedures. In its current implementation, this approach is effective in keeping wooden materials in circulation. However, a significant amount of material still reaches the end-of-life stage through incineration prematurely, constituting a considerable waste of valuable resources. Therefore, we propose repurposing low-quality, low-engineered waste wood for architectural applications to avoid unnecessary downcycling processes. Specifically, we suggest a digital design and fabrication method to build tectonic structures using repurposed timber offcuts. As a case study, we present a pavilion structure built at a 1:1 scale, demonstrating the potential of digital technologies for circular timber construction. Based on this case study, we discuss how digital fabrication and material grading can foster a transition towards a circular built environment.

With the increasing use and complexity of robotic devices, the requirements for the design of human–robot interfaces are rapidly changing and call for new means of interaction and information transfer. On that scope, the discussed project—being developed by the Hybrid Things Lab at the University of Applied Sciences Augsburg and the Design Research Lab at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar—takes a first step in characterizing a novel field of research, exploring the design potentials of non-mimetic sonification in the context of human–robot interaction. Featuring an industrial seven-axis manipulator and collecting multiple information (for instance, the position of the end-effector, joint positions and forces) during manipulation, these datasets are being used for creating a novel augmented audible presence and thus allowing new forms of interaction. As such, this article considers (1) research parameters for non-mimetic sonification (such as pitch, volume, and timbre); (2) a comprehensive empirical pursuit, including setup, exploration, and validation; (3) the overall implications of integrating these findings into a unifying human–robot interaction process. The relation between machinic and auditory dimensionality is of particular concern.

Currently, the timber industry in the European Union incinerates up to 80

This paper outlines an important step in characterizing a novel field of robotic construction research where a cable-driven parallel robot is used to extrude cementitious material in three-dimensional space, and thus offering a comprehensive new approach to computational design and construction, and to robotic fabrication at larger scales. Developed by the Faculty of Art and Design at Bauhaus-University Weimar (Germany), the faculty of Architecture at the University of Applied Sciences Dortmund (Germany) and the Chair of Mechatronics at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany), this approach offers unique advantages over existing additive manufacturing methods: the system is easily transportable and scalable, it does not require additional formwork or scaffolding, and it offers digital integration and informational oversight across the entire design and building process. This paper considers 1) key research components of cable robotic 3D-printing (such as computational design, material exploration, and robotic control), and 2) the integration of these parameters into a unified design and building process. The demonstration of the approach at full-scale is of particular concern.

This paper presents results from the on-going research in industrial AI, namely a use case from Business-to-Business (B2B) factory automation, focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to predict specific time series for factory planning. This research wants to shed light on the progress in industrial AI applications and, most importantly, the respective design and development process. Assuming that a lack of human-centered-design is a key source for considerable pains of the users, e.g. to trust in the system, and problems for stakeholders involved, e.g. exaggerated expectations [1, 2]. The paper outlines a) a B2B-factory planning case study, including setup and implementation, b) the validation of the process and its results through interviews, and c) the pitfalls and challenges of designing AI algorithms in the given context. Of particular importance are 14 themes that have been developed from analysis of a qualitative study with the development team, users and stakeholders involved. Some of the themes are relevant to other use cases and domains as well, some are use case specific and some derive from the focus of the design perspective. Those insights serve as a basis for further steps of investigation and, ultimately, foster a (cross-disciplinary) transfer of knowledge towards other domains.

This paper discusses a novel approach for artificial coral reefs. In our case study – pursued at the shoreline of Gili Trawangan (Indonesia) – we present new methods and techniques for their design and fabrication, and, ultimately, to enable regrowth of damaged coral reefs. Of particular importance is the use of underwater laser scanning and underwater photogrammetry for surveying marine environments. When calibrated and used correctly, these visual sensors are well-suited for automated detection, quantification, mapping, and monitoring applications, particularly for high-accuracy 3-D models or change detection (JORDT 2016). In this context, the intricate structural complexity of a reef formation, especially of scleractinian corals, challenges capturing high-accuracy 3-D models at closerange. In our contribution, we present a) the overall approach and the chosen case study, b) the specific workflow to survey marine environments with millimeter precision, and c) a comparison between different 3-D scan methods applied in this context, including LiDAR scanning (M210UW Newton Labs underwater laser scanner), and high-resolution underwater photogrammetry (Sony Cyber-shot RX100 II, Canon EOS 5Ds). Against this background, we discuss the applicability of both methods and their viability for voxel models from high-resolution computed tomography (CT) scans of an extracted sample of Prototype 1.

The book includes the papers presented at RobArch 2018 containing topics, from methodologies for incorporating dynamic material feedback into existing fabrication processes, to novel interfaces for robotic programming, to new processes for large-scale automated construction.

This paper takes a first step in characterizing a novel field of research—jammed architectural structures—where load-bearing architectural structures are automatically aggregated from bulk material. Initiated by the group of Gramazio Kohler Research at ETH Zürich and the Self-Assembly Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this digital fabrication approach fosters a combination of cutting-edge robotic fabrication technology and low-grade building material, shifting the focus from precise assembly of known parts towards controlled aggregation of granular material such as gravel or rocks. Since the structures in this process are produced without additional formwork, are fully reversible, and are produced from local or recycled materials, this pursuit offers a radical new approach to sustainable, economical and structurally sound building construction. The resulting morphologies allow for a convergence of novel aesthetic and structural capabilities, enabling a locally differentiated aggregation of material under digital guidance, and featuring high geometrical flexibility and minimal material waste. This paper considers (1) fundamental research parameters such as design computation and fabrication methods, (2) first results of physical experimentation, and (3) the architectural implications of this research for a unified, material-driven digital design and fabrication process. Full-scale experimentation demonstrates that it is possible to erect building-sized structures that are larger than the work-envelope of the digital fabrication setup.

This paper presents a novel approach to non-standard timber assembly – Robotic Timber Construction (RTC) – where robotic fabrication is used to expand additive digital fabrication techniques towards industrial full scale dimensions. Featuring robotic systems that grasp, manipulate, and finally position building components according to a precise digital blueprint, RTC combines robotic assembly procedures and advanced digital design of non-standard timber structures. The resulting architectural morphologies allow for a convergence of aesthetic and functional concerns, enabling structural optimisation through the locally differentiated aggregation of material. Initiated by the group of Gramazio Kohler Research at ETH Zurich, this approach offers a new perspective on automated timber construction, where the focus is shifted from the processing of single parts towards the assembly of generic members in space. As such, RTC promotes unique advantages over conventional approaches to timber construction, such as, for example, CNC joinery and cutting: through the automated placement of material exactly where it is needed, RTC combines additive and largely waste-free construction with economic assembly procedures, it does not require additional external building reference, and it offers digital control across the entire building process, even when the design and assembly information are highly complex. This paper considers 1) research parameters for the individual components of RTC (such as computational design processes, construction methods and fabrication strategies), and 2) the architectural implications of integrating these components into a systemic, unifying process at the earliest stages of design. Overall, RTC leads to profound changes in the design, performance and expressive language of architecture and thus fosters the creation of architecture that profoundly reinvents its constructive repertoire.

Automated fabrication techniques are currently largely confined to the production of discrete objects or building elements. To notch up the potential of robotics for architectural design, it is necessary to start to push the limits and experiment at a larger urban scale. Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler are pioneers in this field. Here, with Jan Willmann , they describe the research that they are undertaking as part of the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) located at the Singapore‐ETH Centre for Global Environmental Sustainability (SEC) and ETH Zurich, in which robotic fabrication technologies are employed to realize 1:50 physical models of mixed‐use high‐rise structures that are unique in their spatial layouts.

This article presents a novel robot-based 3D printing technique for the automated fabrication of nonstandard large-scale lightweight structures. The approach offers unique advantages over conventional approaches to 3D printing: It can be performed freely in space, it is scalable, and it enables the fabrication of structures from a filament 3D printing process. A first full-scale demonstration case-the architectural installation Iridescence Print-was exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Based on ongoing research and teaching activities, the installation exemplifies a new area of research in the field of 3D printing: robotically printed lightweight mesh structures.

Today, more people than ever live in the metropolises of our world. The tension between the explosively growing metropolises and their satellite cities, and between these interconnected regions and the diminishing rural communities, present immense social and economic challenges that require entirely new ways of thinking about and materialising architecture if the twenty-first century's urban adventure is to succeed. And this is expressed in the most radical way in Flight Assembled Architecture.

文章阐述了瑞士苏黎世联邦理工大学建筑学院数字建造教研室对数字建造技术下材料、工具和设计三者关系的思考.同时,文章简要介绍了该教研室自2005年以来的6组教研实验项目.