While computer aided design software allows for rapid exploration of architectural forms, transferring these designs to machinery for digital fabrication and assembly processes is often manual. This paper outlines steps to automate digital fabrication and monitor assembly processes for thin structural panels, aiming to integrate these tools into the designer’s workflow. Much of the current state of the art focuses on unidirectional data flow from design to manufacture, with little capability for process monitoring in assembly. In this work, laser cutting has been utilised with a stacked contour technique, to realise complex 3D geometries from planar sheets at low-cost, and the methods for automating slicing and placement of reference dowels are described. With regards to assembly, panels are designed to be handled by a robot manipulator arm using readily sourced timber dowels and custom robot end-effectors; towards this end, a bidirectional connection between design software and sensor data is described, and results are presented on experiments with Apriltag fiducial tags cut into wood with which to get process feedback through cameras. Using this sensor data, panel poses can be estimated, and results on Apriltag pose feedback with a set of test panels are reported. A prototype of a thin dry stacked panel structure has been developed and assembled as a case study into the manufacture process, and to demonstrate the adaptive robotic planning opportunity provided in integrating live sensor data into parametric CAD software. As-designed panel poses are compared to real pose data, and additionally to pointcloud data suggesting space for further development. Through these integrations into the design process, this research aims to contribute to the capabilities of the architecture engineering and construction (AEC) sector, to streamline the use of modern fabrication and robotics hardware for disassemblable systems.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)