Parametric robot control : customizing CAAD software for fabrication

Abstract

Robots are gaining popularity in architecture: Snøhetta has recently purchased their own industrial robot, becoming one of the first architectural offices in the world to adopt robot technology while research at faculties of architecture and building science is carried out throughout the world.<br />However, the actual users who program these complex, kinematic machines are often not the architects themselves, but computer scientists and mechanical engineers who adapt the architects' designs for fabrication.<br />The reason for that is not solely that the required software is too expensive or complex for architects, but also that the established workflows and processes are optimized for areas other than architectural design.<br />This thesis aims to explore the current and future use of robots in architecture, the relationship between parametric design and fabrication, the geometric constraints of milling strategies, and approaches towards an efficient control of industrial robots for mass-customization. A custom robotic fabrication plugin is presented, which integrates into existing parametric CAAD software and allows architects to completely control the robotic fabrication process using well documented and affordable architectural software tools.