Editing landscapes: Experimental frameworks for territorial-based robotic fabrication

With the advent of on-site robotic tools, they can be deployed for editing landscapes – defined as the modulation of grounds with a high degree of sensitivity to matter and form. The paper contributes a theoretical grounding and two experimental frameworks for territorial-based robotic fabrication. Each experimental framework supports a robotic capacity for informing and forming grounds, demonstrated in relation to extreme territories using simulation setups. The frameworks include (1) a layer-sensitive modulation for protecting topsoil and (2) a performance-based robotic forming for creating wind barriers. For each framework, the paper proposes a setup, an exploration method, and an evaluation process. Drawing on the presented frameworks, the paper outlines three potentials of territorial-based robotic fabrication: the capability to modulate grounds vertically, the possibility to perform cross-scalar forming, and the opportunity to form dynamic, performative landscapes. The paper concludes with potential ways in which robotic tools could be leveraged for advancing precise landscape editing across scales.     

Thinking with Matter

Mark West considers the qualities of the analogue against the digital in the context of his work at the Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (CAST) at Manitoba. Unable to fault the computer's ability to provide complex calculations for the fabrication of forms, he insists that the fidelity and investigative potential that he has found in the reality of the physical model and hand-drafted drawing have yet to be surpassed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards Robotic Swarm Printing

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Mediated Matter Group is honing its research into robotic swarm printing by focusing its efforts on material sophistication, or ‘tunability’, and communication or coordination between fabrication units. Here, the group's Neri Oxman, Jorge Duro-Royo, Steven Keating, Ben Peters and Elizabeth Tsai illustrate this by describing three case studies that investigate robotically controlled additive fabrication at architectural scales.     

A pilot study of children's exposure to CCA-treated wood from playground equipment

Arsenic from chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood, widely used in playgrounds and other outdoor equipment, can persist as surface residues on wood. This raises concerns about possible health risks associated with children playing on CCA-treated playgrounds. In a Pilot Study, 11 children (13-71 months) in homes with and without CCA-treated playgrounds were evaluated with post-exposure hand rinses and urine for total arsenic. Samples of wood, soil, and mulch, as well as synthetic wipes, were sampled for total arsenic. In non-CCA-treated playgrounds vs. CCA-treated playgrounds, respectively, wood arsenic was <2.0 mg/kg vs. mean arsenic 2370 mg/kg (range 1440-3270 mg/kg); soil arsenic was <3.0 mg/kg vs. mean arsenic of 19 mg/kg (range 4.0-42 mg/kg); mulch arsenic at one non-CCA-treated playground was 0.4 mg/kg vs. two CCA-treated playgrounds of 0.6 and 69 mg/kg. The arsenic removed using a synthetic wipe at non-CCA-treated playgrounds was <0.5 microg, while mean arsenic from CCA-treated wood was 117 microg (range 1.0-313). The arsenic mass from hand rinses for children who played at non-CCA-treated playgrounds was <0.2 microg, while mean arsenic mass was 0.6 microg (range <0.2-1.9) at CCA-treated playgrounds. Mean urinary total arsenic levels were 13.6 pg/ml (range 7.2-23.1 pg/ml) for all children evaluated, but there was no association between access to CCA-playgrounds and urinary arsenic levels. Arsenic speciation was not performed. This preliminary Pilot Study of CCA-treated wood playgrounds observed dislodgeable arsenic on 11 children's hands after brief periods of play exposure. Future efforts should increase the number of children and the play exposure periods, and incorporate speciation in order to discriminate between various sources of arsenic.     

再生细骨料混凝土材料性能与结构行为研究评述

国内外采用再生粗骨料制备再生骨料混凝土技术已较为成熟,已有成功的示范工程应用,在一定程度上缓解了工程对天然粗骨料的需求。然而,占再生骨料总质量约4%～60%的再生细骨料难以高效利用,造成资源浪费,加剧天然砂短缺趋势。文章基于大量的文献研究,旨在深入剖析再生细骨料混凝土材料与结构性能,揭示包括工作性能、力学性能和结构行为在内的再生细骨料混凝土性能特征,找出内在劣化规律,提炼再生细骨料混凝土应用和研究的目标和方向,为安全推广再生细骨料混凝土应用提供理论基础和研究依据。研究表明,再生细骨料的微观孔隙是造成再生细骨料混凝土性能复杂性的主要原因;再生细骨料对混凝土的工作性能和力学性能有不利影响,但通过调整水灰比和减水剂用量等方式,可以达到良好的工作性能和力学性能;相比相同抗压强度等级的天然骨料混凝土,再生细骨料混凝土的抗拉强度和弹性模量较低;再生细骨料混凝土构件的正截面承载能力与天然骨料混凝土构件相近,但其抗剪性能和与钢筋的锚固性能有待进一步研究。     

建筑信息模型与数字化建造

文章讨论了＂数字化建造＂的内涵及其所包含的内容,并从建筑信息模型为数字化建造提供详尽的数据信息、保障、有效的管理平台三个方面论述了建筑信息模型是数字化建造的基础。文章还指出,数字化建造必须与建筑信息模型结合才能取得更大的发展。     

一种潜规则 ——浅谈基于结构性能的数字化形式生成及建造

当形式与功能,结构与空间等论题 还在被激烈地讨论时,一种整合诸多资源的 解决方案已经悄悄地出现。数字建造作为一 种新工业革命的符号,其已经渗透到从工业 制造到日常生活的方方面面,所以建筑学也无 法独善其身。从学科的角度来讲,数字建造是 一个综合多种学科知识的系统性工程,是诸 多技术在某种设计原则引导下的精准表达。 本文通过一些数字建造案例来剖析从设计到 建造的生成过程及其研究方法。同时,一种潜 在的结构与形式的理性脉络也在这个生成的 过程中被严谨地发展并遵循着。     

ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2012: Coreless Filament Winding Based on the Morphological Principles of an Arthropod Exoskeleton

Advanced design, simulation and fabrication technologies facilitate the exploration and transferring of the morphological principles of fibrous systems from biology to technology. The ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion 2012 pioneered such an approach for architecture. Jan Knippers, Riccardo La Magna, Achim Menges, Steffen Reichert, Tobias Schwinn and Frédéric Waimer of the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) and Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) research team at the University of Stuttgart describe how they approached the design of the pavilion, which is located on the school's campus.     

Manufacturing Reciprocities

Following in the footsteps of more progressive industries, digital fabrication in architecture is on the brink of shifting from task-specific computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines to more generic industrial robots. The change from machine hardware and control software developed to facilitate a specific fabrication process towards more open-ended and generic fabrication devices enables architects to design custom fabrication processes and machine-control protocols. Achim Menges and Tobias Schwinn present how these advanced machine capabilities expand the interface between design computation and physical materialisation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robot-aided tunnel inspection and maintenance system by vision and proximity sensor integration

This article describes an unprecedented alternative to manual procedures for the application of advanced composite materials, such as Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) and epoxy resins. A complete mobile integrated system is presented for the inspection and maintenance of concrete surfaces in tunnels. It allows performance of operations with minimum interference on passing traffic. The core of this system resides in a specially designed light-weight robotic tool, which is sensed and automated for processes. Sensing includes vision and a laser telemeter to assure precise inspection, superficial preparation, and composite application. The designed interconnection flange allows simple and robust attachment of the tool to a robotic arm's tip. The robot-tool set is to be mounted on a standard articulated lift platform. Therefore, an operator can direct the platform and the robot-tool set's operations from a control station placed at ground-level, in a wheeled vehicle on which the articulated lift platform is mounted. A graphical Human-Machine Interface (HMI) has been developed for the system. It allows the operator to identify fissures for the injection of epoxy resin, and weakened surfaces for FRP adhesion. Actual procedures are planned and performed by the system's automatic components.     

Embracing the Creativity of Stigmergy in Social Insects

In 1959, French biologist Pierre-Paul Grassé coined the term ‘stigmergy’ to explain the mechanism of spontaneous coordination between agents or actions that leave traces on the environment. Here, Guy Theraulaz , a leading researcher in the field of swarm intelligence and a senior fellow at the of the Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, part of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) at Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, explains how architects can learn from this type of social interaction among insects.     

The impacts of road and walking trails upon adjacent vegetation: effects of road building materials on species composition in a nutrient poor environment

Roads represent an important landscape element affecting both biotic and abiotic components. Alteration of soil properties along roads (addition of nutrients) is assumed to have a great impact on vegetation structure especially in nutrient poor ecosystems. Existing studies focus mainly on road dust. In our study we assessed the overall effects of roads upon adjacent alpine tundra vegetation and soils in Krkonoše Mts, Czech Republic. Our aims were to (1) reconstruct the road-related changes using aerial data and GPS mapping to study colonization of roadside plant species; (2) assess the road effects on physical-chemical soil properties and vegetation composition along transects; and (3) propose conservation measures to stop further damage. Changes were reconstructed from historical multispectral aerial photography (1986 to 1997), measured by GPS device (1997, 2004), and accompanied by detailed soil (1998, 2000 and 2001) and vegetation (2000 and 2004) surveys along transects. Along alkaline roads, fast and profound shifts in physical-chemical soil properties (pH increased from 3.9 up to 7.6, base saturation from 9-30% up to 100%), and species composition were recorded. The roadside vegetation doubled in area during the studied decade. Stress-tolerant tundra species were replaced by meso- to nitrophilous species and species preferring man-made habitats. The intensity of changes depended significantly on the type of road material and the position relative to the road (slope position, distance from the road). Our findings support the assumption that alkaline gravel is the main cause of changes along roads in the area, and indicate the leading role of water transport in the soil and consequent vegetation alteration. To prevent the further damage we recommended replacement of alkaline gravel by granite, even though expensive and technically complicated. Based on our recommendations, the National Park authorities started to reconstruct the trails, although recovery is expected to be slow.     

The impacts of fabrication systems on 3D concrete printing building forms

Recently, 3D concrete printing (3DCP) technology starts entering the market from factories and laboratories, contributing to the creation of new construction methods and architectural forms. However, since the technologies of most 3DCP institutions are independently developed, there is a lack of consensus in terms of construction methods and development approaches in the industry. In this paper, based on 42 3DCP architectural works completed in last five years, a quantitative analysis was made to evaluate the impacts of the fabrication system on 3DCP building forms. The paper introduced three criteria, including Workspace Index, Geometric Complexity Index, and Tectonic Prospect Index, analyzing and answering the discussions about “adopting in-situ printing or prefabrication”, “using gantry printers or robotic arms” from the perspective of architectural form. By analyzing specific construction methods and design strategies in these projects, the research summarized three development trends, “mobile equipment, algorithmic structure, and intelligent construction”, which will affect the future development of 3DCP building forms. Finally, the paper discussed the advantages, limitations, and potential of four different 3DCP fabrication systems, expecting to point out the directions to further optimize each system and realize more diverse 3DCP buildings.     

The Art of the Prototypical

Poised between design research and full-scale realisation, prototypes in architecture provide a significant stepping stone for innovation. Through his New York-based studio THEVERYMANY, Mark Fornes explores the possibilities of coding and computer prototcols for design and fabrication through art installations and architectural structures. As prototypical projects, they are each defined by a single architectural concern, like a structure, enclosure or porosity; the intention being to realise the structure as a pleasurable spatial experience with potential for scalability.     

The Return of the Future: A Second Go at Robotic Construction

The last few years have witnessed a robotic revival with a reinvigoration of interest in what the robot can offer the construction industry. Martin Bechthold looks back at the first robotic boom during the 1980s and 1990s when millions of Japanese yen were invested in developing robots that could address the shortage of construction labour. Bechthold further explores the similarities and dissimilarities of the current and previous periods of activity, as supported by his research at Harvard's Graduate School of Design (GSD). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impossible Objects

Jonathan Proto and Brandon Kruysman of Kruysman-Proto, both design technologists at San Francisco-based Bot & Dolly, a design and engineering studio that specialises in automation, robotics and filmmaking, describe their radical approach to architectural representation. They explain how by combining cinematic techniques and advanced robotic manufacturing they have been able to explore a new model for making that shifts the role of robotics in fabrication away from a process largely focused on geometric rationalisation into the sphere of visualisation and ideas creation.     

水–岩及风化作用下层状炭质板岩巴西劈裂试验研究

横观各向同性层状板岩在地质环境及施工裸露后形成的水–岩和自然风化作用下,其物理力学性质将发生退化,由此常引起岩土隧道、边坡等工程产生抗拉失稳破坏。以甘肃岷县木寨岭隧道炭质板岩为研究对象,对其开展即时烘干试样(即试样加工后烘干处理)和静置风化试样(加工后室内常温通风放置60d)巴西劈裂试验,分析了两种条件下炭质板岩的抗拉力学性能。结果表明:两种炭质板岩巴西劈裂试验均表现为脆性破坏,但力学响应及峰值荷载差异极大;炭质板岩抗拉强度均受层理影响显著,但即时烘干试样和静置风化试样的劈裂破坏形态受层理影响程度不同;以即时烘干试样为基础,静置风化试样软化系数为0.11~0.13,体现了水岩作用及其静置风化对岩样具有显著劣化效应,但对层理形成的横观各向同性抗拉性能影响不大。此外,借助SEM对水岩静置风化机理进行分析,具体为水侵入后形成物理化学反应改变矿物微观成分、结构进而结合风化作用表现为矿物骨架承载的累计劣化损伤。     

A dynamic programming solution to automate fabrication sequencing of industrial construction components

Increasing complexity of petro-chemical projects, fast-tracked engineering, and tighter schedules pose a challenge for pipe spool fabrication shops. To maintain competitiveness, it is necessary to improve the shop performance, i.e. fabrication cycle time. Pipe spool fabrication sequence is found to have significant impact on cycle time and presents an area with potential for improvement. Traditionally, fabrication sequences are determined by shop foremen in a heuristic manner and optimality is not guaranteed. This paper presents a dynamic programming (DP) algorithm to automatically identify the optimal fabrication sequences for pipe spools. Simulation experiments are conducted to test the effectiveness of the algorithm by comparing the cycle times resulting from the algorithm-generated sequences and human-planner-designed sequences, respectively. The results show that the DP algorithm reduces unnecessary position-welding (9 out of 20 position-welds) and results in a reduction in the total fabrication cycle time by a range of 4.8% to 12%.     

Structural Stone Surfaces: New Compression Shells Inspired by the Past

Much of our architectural heritage today is built out of unreinforced masonry. It is often unclear why historic masonry structures still stand when conventional analysis tools have predicted their failure. In order to ensure the safety of these existing structures, there is an acute need for innovative tools that can accurately analyse their stability. Associate Professor Philippe Block, Tom Van Mele and Matthias Rippmann of the Block Research Group, part of the Institute of Technology in Architecture at ETH Zurich demonstrate how computational form-finding methods and design tools for masonry structures that stand in pure compression, such as arches and vaults, make it possible to design expressive and efficient surface structures that can be built with very little or low-quality material. By studying the techniques of medieval master builders, the Block Research Group has also developed new ways of building with masonry, enhanced by current construction and fabrication technologies. These new tools and reinvented construction methods can be applied in different contexts: for instance, by studying the structure of Gothic cathedrals, they manage to dramatically reduce the use of materials in office construction.