Robots Tack New Possibilities Onto Timber Fabrication
Timber fabrication has almost always relied on the work of manual laborers or the mass production of single elements. While this method may be reliable, it is also largely inflexible. But computers and robotics could soon remedy this problem.
Researchers at the University of Stuttgard have collaborated with KUKA, a robotic arms manufacturer, and MullerBlaustein, a timber construction and engineering company, to create a new timber construction system that combines robotic prefabrication, design and simulation processes, and 3D surveying technologies. They hope that this system will expand the architectural expression in the timber construction industry.
In 2011, with the help of the Institute for Computational Design and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design, the University of Stuttgart, which researches lightweight structures, created a bionic research pavilion made from extremely thin plywood, demonstrating just how far robotics can take timber construction.
Because of this work, the European Union and the state of Baden-Wurttemberg are funding a research project – giving up to 425,000 Euro – in order to translate the work into a robotically fabricated, lightweight construction system. Due to this, the Institute of Computational Design and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design partnered with the Institute of Engineering Geodesy and the University of Stuttgard, KUKA, and a few timber construction companies to make the system a reality.
In order for this to happen, these groups must create and apply an architectural design with a focus on a coherent “digital chain.” This chain goes from geometric modeling to structural analysis and digital fabrication, all the while monitoring geometrical deviations.
The University of Stuttgart is currently trying to find ways to develop the lightweight timber construction system in conjunction with robotic fabrication equipment. They are using their own equipment to search and develop the system.
