Digital Design to Digital Production Flank Milling with a 7-Axis CNC-Milling Robot and Parametric Design

Abstract

Just recently Flank Milling has opened up new possibilities in detailing large-scale architectural building envelopes. Whereas examples such as the Hungerburgbahn by Zaha Hadid show the application of Flank Milling at the end of the architectural manufacturing process, our research, in contrast, focuses on the implementation of constraints immanent to manufacturing techniques as early architectural design parameters. This process is explored by the help of generative modeling tools, to allow an intuitive design of freeform parametric curves and surfaces while at the same time obeying crucial geometric conditions. In this paper, we will focus on the “digital design to digital production” process on a 7-axis industrial CNC-robot.