Mobile Robotic Fabrication System for Filament Structures | ICD
The Institute for Computational Design (ICD) at Stuttgart University proven itself continuously as one of the most innovative laboratories worldwide. The Mobile Robotic Fabrication System for Filament Structures is developed at the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) and the Institute for Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) by ITECH graduate Maria Yablonina, demonstrates a radically new production process for filament structures. The experiment aims to significantly extend the scope of robotic fabrication for carbon fiber architecture explored in several building prototypes by the two institutes and to display new production processes for filament structures. The principle is relatively basic – it consists of multiple semi-autonomous robots, which are able to climb walls in order to administer fiber filament, using both horizontal and vertical surfaces. They can also be used on existing architectural pieces, in order to renew it with other structures.
The advantage of these robots is the fact that they are not limited by position and reach, but they are equipped with movement systems and a multitude of sensors, which allow them to move and interact with accuracy between various parts of a building. By creating the grid used for the pathfinding software through which the robots are supposed to move, the robots interact with one another. In order to pass the thread, they are equipped with a pair of electromagnets each and a wrapping mechanism. Yablonina has stated that “These agile mobile robotic systems move robotic fabrication processes beyond the constraints of the production hall, exposing vast urban and interior environments as potential fabrication sites”.
