Waste-Free Robotic Construction of Spatial Discrete Element Structures

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

The construction industry is one of most resource‐intensive sectors and yet civil infrastructure continues to be constructed with traditional waste-intensive approaches. Robotic manufacturing is projected to disrupt the construction industry in the next decades. Its advantages include increased productivity, reduced labor costs, safer working environments and design of one-off, complex buildings that are not technically and economically feasible with traditional construction methods. Current building forms are deeply rooted in a pre-robotic construction rationale, therefore robotic construction of existing building forms still have significant economic and environmental costs. Such construction would need form and shore work, which goes to waste once the entire structure is completed. This research will develop computational and physical approaches for the analysis, construction-focused design, and robotic assembly of long span discrete structures to build without any form or shore work waste. Additionally, this project will enhance research experiences for high school, undergraduate and graduate students as well as a postdoctoral researcher, and will provide outreach to the K-12 minority community through an annual conference and an institutional summer materials research academy. The goal of this research is to generate a new understanding of how form finding, and element layout approaches coupled with robotic phasing and path-planning algorithms can be tailored for robotic assembly of spatial discrete element systems without requiring any scaffolding or formwork. Thus, the specific objectives are to (i) to develop a computational framework for the generation of discrete element geometries loaded under internal membrane or axial action, and for the tessellation of efficient element layouts based on topology optimization and geodesic net approaches, (ii) to integrate corrugation or plate-bande construction strategies into the computational framework to ensure stability throughout construction in the absence of external support, and (iii) to develop and incorporate robotic collaborative assembly methods based on temporary support phasing and path-planning algorithms for multiple collaborative static or mobile robots, into the framework, and physically validate them through the construction of discrete structure prototypes. The key motivation of this project is to prove that the shape and the element layout and sequencing of spatial structures can be tailored to omit all support material during robotic construction. If this premise is validated, it establishes a novel paradigm for robotic construction and promotes robotic manufacturing as a driver for sustainable and cost-effective civil infrastructure. This research will advance the knowledge base in structural mechanics and design, construction engineering and additive robotic manufacturing. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.