AUTMOD3: The integration of design and planning tools for automatic modular construction

Abstract

Europe is facing a fast growing need for affordable, high quality housing, which can not be solved by means of traditional or conventional building technology and its associated methods of construction. One of the solutions to this problem is the application of high quality modular construction, which defines a new building process as the assembly of pre-fabricated modules in the construction site. As part of this philosophy, AUTMOD3 is an automatic modular construction software environment, developed in the frame of the EU project FutureHome. The system seamlessly integrates architectural design, planning and simulation tools in a wellknown CAD program commonly used by designers. Architectural design using previously defined 3D and 2D modules or modularisation of the traditional building design are the main objectives of the AUTMOD3 design tool. The production planning and the on-site modular assembly planning are the main task to be performed by the planning tool. The AUTMOD3 assembly planning tool generates the trajectories, which can be applied directly to a robotized crane develop in the project FutureHome.