The robotic revolution has been a hugely important phenomenon in many industrial sectors, but the new developments have allowed for the combination of robotic and digital technology to be applied to the architecture field by providing new techniques as an integral part of construction and design.
Today, robotics and artificial intelligence are the great allies of architecture and design. Architects can use this innovation as an alternative to the design, programming and manufacturing of large-scale buildings with the help of more intelligent and flexible real-time construction systems.
There are several cases of architects who have used robot automation to carry out their designs, such as Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler, professors at the ETH Institute of Architecture Technology, who used robots to build in large environments, a truly innovative idea. Although their creations have been limited in size so far, architects are currently exploring the idea of applying robotic manufacturing to the design and construction of high-rise buildings. In one of their projects, the architects installed a manipulator robot in a modified cargo container, a “mobile manufacturing unit” that could travel anywhere in the world. It was taken to Manhattan a few years ago, where the robot rebuilt a 22-metres long brick structure.
However, some of the most interesting creations are those that use robots to assemble elaborate environments. The wooden structure consists of 16 twisted elements made of 372 slats. The entire construction is the building’s structural support, roof and façade at the same time. Each of the elements is rotated individually, producing a progression of subtly different spaces.
Another architect and roboticist from Australia focuses on emerging technology and design within the built environment. He worked on important projects such as the Burj Khalifa or the Dubai Mall. He’s Karl Singline and he combines his two passions, architecture and his admiration for robotics. No matter the finished product, be it a house, a coffee or a chair, Karl finds the result through rigorous design and analysis processes.
Singline says, “I’ve abandoned classical architecture and design methods, I want to devote myself completely the possibilities of robotics in this area. Because the use of robots makes designs possible that would be otherwise impossible with traditional methods. And robots help turn these ideas into reality.”
Karl Singline has spent some time investigating the applications of design robotics together with architectural construction, using a six-axis KUKA robot (LBR iiwa or a KR Quantec) with specialized control software such as Grasshopper or special KUKA tools such as the KUKA prc or HMI that allow designers to control not only robots with a program widely used in the architectural profession, but to stimulate the actual manufacturing process digitally.
This designer creates tutorials on his YouTube page, where he explains how robots can help creative processes. In this case, how these tools are configured, leading to more creative results with parametric modeling in combination with the software, exploring more options starting with the action of drawing, milling or performing complex processes such as extrusion, pick & pack or positioning robots, in an accurate and reliable way.