Multi-robotic assembly of discrete shell structures

Abstract

Discrete shell structures are renowned for their material efficiency and elegance. However, they might require a fair amount of falsework as temporary supports during construction, which could partially offset the gains in material efficiency. This research is an investigation of the use of multi-robotic assembly for the autonomous construction of discrete shells. We present a design-to-fabrication workflow (Fig. 1) that combines structural design, construction sequence assessment, reachability evaluation, and robotic motion planning. We demonstrate the potential of the proposed workflow through a simple and a more complex example. This work contributes to the research field of assembly-aware design and multi-robotic manufacturing to improve assembly efficiency and reduce waste.