Computationally enabled material management: Learning from three robotically fabricated demonstrators

Publications: Contribution to conferencePaperResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Through the last few years, we have seen a surge in construction material cost because of material scarcity in the wake of a global pandemic and now as a consequence of war. These sudden material shortages make the global market respond with increased prices and longer delivery times, which comes at a great disadvantage to both craftspeople, private people, and the construc-tion industry. Consequently, this has inverted the cost percentage between construction material, and labor cost, where construction material now is a greater expense than labor. This recent shift presents a unique opportunity to refocus research into computationally managed fabrication pipelines to min-imize material use and establish an efficient process to handle offcuts. To demonstrate this potential, this paper presents an analysis of three timber demonstrators focusing on material use through a digital fabrication pipe-line. The paper analyses the material use based on developed 3D models, previously used to develop fabrication data. The analysis aims to describe the consequences of building structures that consists of 1) Different parts, sim-ple joinery, 2) Similar parts, complex joinery; and lastly, 3) similar parts, simple joinery. Through this analysis is developed a framework that sits be-tween the design and fabrication model, which produces optimized cut se-quences to be used with a robotic fabrication system. Furthermore, the re-search suggests a process to handle offcuts, through labeling and databases, which can lead to new sources of revenue for an industry leading fabricator.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date2023
Publication statusPublished - 2023
EventUIA World Congress of Architects 2023 Copenhagen - København, Denmark
Duration: 2 Jul 20236 Jul 2023
Conference number: 28
https://uia2023cph.org/

Conference

ConferenceUIA World Congress of Architects 2023 Copenhagen
Number28
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityKøbenhavn
Period02/07/202306/07/2023
OtherThe UIA World Congress takes place every third year with 10-15.000 participants from all over the world.<br/>The 2023 World Congress of Architects will take place on 2-6 July 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark. With the theme “Sustainable Futures- Leave No One Behind”, the Congress aims to promote, discuss, create and showcase architecture as a vital tool to achieve the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. It will share sustainable solutions and examine the latest research results.
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Keywords

  • robotic fabrication
  • material planning
  • timber construction
  • timber Joints

Artistic research

  • No

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