http://cargocollective.com Fabrications Robotics Network Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:39:18 +0000 http://cargocollective.com en http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/Fatty-Shell-Flexible-Formwork http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/Fatty-Shell-Flexible-Formwork Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:39:18 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 1832347 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1832347/image1_860.jpg" width="860" height="428" width_o="860" height_o="428" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1832347/image1_o.jpg" data-mid="10957797" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1832347/image2_860.jpg" width="860" height="428" width_o="860" height_o="428" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1832347/image2_o.jpg" data-mid="10957804" border="0" align="left"/>{ This project was an exploration in algorithmic scripting paired with robotic fabric cutting in order to produce flexible formwork. 'Sleeves' were designed and fabricated using these techniques, then filled with concrete to realize the forms generated from the script. The resulting geometries and their concrete forms are the products of construction opportunities and programmatic parameters within several unique urban infill sites. This version of Fatty-Wall: Flexible Formwork is a full-scale prototype of one such solution. The group first developed a script to populate a selected site with a series of interconnected primitive geometries. In each condition, the scripts were adjusted to take advantage of construction opportunities such as bearing walls, lampposts, or overpasses. Solutions were then minimalized or 'relaxed' to form continuous web-like volumes. A series of resulting forms were studied and cataloged while the group refined the scripts and tested potential methods of fabrication. The complex 3d solution was then ‘cracked’ and ‘unfolded’ in order to assemble a set of 2d patterns that could be communicated to a 6-axis robotic arm. The robot was fitted with a custom milled attachment that featured a rotary knife blade supported with ball bearings. By using a vacuum compression table, the group was able to quickly cut over 100 unique patterns with a high degree of precision from a standard roll of EPDM (roofing rubber). The patterns were stitched using an industrial sewing machine to complete the flexible formwork. . Before pouring concrete, the group modeled the instillation space; collected the vectors needed to achieve proper tensioning and hung the stitched membrane with a heavy pulley about the centroid of the overall geometry. The perimeter of the formwork was sandwiched with plywood edging to provide tensioning cables and the bottom was fastened to the floor with a plywood cleat. The concrete was engineered and produced on site. Fiberglass reinforcing and plasticizer were added to increase structural integrity and workability in the pouring process. It was necessary to pour the concrete in 'lifts' (or sequenced pours) due to the weight of the wet mixture and the elasticity of the formwork. At each ‘lift,’ fresh concrete would slide past the previous lift and bulge until it reached a stasis within the formwork resulting in apparent ‘fattiness’ at each joints. During the casting process, the group was able to shape and guide the wet concrete into position - an unanticipated sculptural process within an otherwise highly precise set of operations. Fatty-Wall: Flexible Formwork suggests a ‘digital synthetic’ methodology - robotic fabrication combined with hand-craft construction techniques - as a unique and productive method of fabrication in small scale architectural propositions. The digital synthetic methodology has the capacity to capture highly precise tolerances and rapid prototyping while maintaining the potential to yield unexpected tectonics through making. { This project was an exploration in algorithmic scripting paired with robotic fabric cutting in order to produce flexible formwork. 'Sleeves' were designed and... http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/Publications http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/Publications Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:43:26 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 2168267 Work done by those affiliated with the Fabrication Robotics Network has been published in the following venues: ACADIA 2011 - Integration through Computation Pigram, David; McGee, Wes (2011) 'Formation Embedded Design: A methodology for the integration of fabrication constraints into architectural design', ACADIA 11: Integration through Computation [Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA)] [ISBN 978-1-6136-4595-6] Banff (Alberta) 13-16 October, 2011, pp. 122-131 http://cumincad.scix.net/cgi-bin/works/Show?acadia11_122 Kaczynski, Maciej P; McGee, Wes; Pigram, David (2011) 'Robotically Fabricated Thin-shell Vaulting: A method for the integration of multi-axis fabrication processes with algorithmic form-finding techniques', ACADIA 11: Integration through Computation [Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA)] [ISBN 978-1-6136-4595-6] Banff (Alberta) 13-16 October, 2011, pp. 114-121 MacDowell, Parke; Tomova, Diana (2011) 'Robotic Rod-bending: Digital Drawing in Physical Space', ACADIA 11: Integration through Computation [Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA)] [ISBN 978-1-6136-4595-6] Banff (Alberta) 13-16 October, 2011, pp. 132-137 http://cumincad.scix.net/cgi-bin/works/Show?acadia11_132 Work done by those affiliated with the Fabrication Robotics Network has been published in the following venues: ACADIA 2011 - Integration through Computation ... http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/Drape-Form http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/Drape-Form Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:00:37 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 1774950 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/19-7-2011-20_860.jpg" width="860" height="572" width_o="1080" height_o="719" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/19-7-2011-20_o.jpg" data-mid="8745929" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/19-7-2011-21_860.jpg" width="860" height="572" width_o="1080" height_o="719" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/19-7-2011-21_o.jpg" data-mid="8745931" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/19-7-2011-25_860.jpg" width="860" height="572" width_o="1080" height_o="719" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/19-7-2011-25_o.jpg" data-mid="8745926" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/19-7-2011-4_860.jpg" width="860" height="572" width_o="1080" height_o="719" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/19-7-2011-4_o.jpg" data-mid="8745928" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0244_860.JPG" width="860" height="571" width_o="2048" height_o="1360" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0244_o.JPG" data-mid="8745864" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0236_860.JPG" width="860" height="1294" width_o="1424" height_o="2144" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0236_o.JPG" data-mid="8746372" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0259_860.JPG" width="860" height="571" width_o="2048" height_o="1360" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0259_o.JPG" data-mid="8745877" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0247_860.JPG" width="860" height="571" width_o="2048" height_o="1360" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0247_o.JPG" data-mid="8745870" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0284_860.JPG" width="860" height="1294" width_o="1424" height_o="2144" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0284_o.JPG" data-mid="8746375" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0333_860.JPG" width="860" height="571" width_o="2048" height_o="1360" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0333_o.JPG" data-mid="8745883" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0347_860.JPG" width="860" height="571" width_o="2048" height_o="1360" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0347_o.JPG" data-mid="8745894" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0368_860.JPG" width="860" height="571" width_o="2048" height_o="1360" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0368_o.JPG" data-mid="8746451" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0401_860.JPG" width="860" height="571" width_o="2048" height_o="1360" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0401_o.JPG" data-mid="8745902" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0446_860.JPG" width="860" height="571" width_o="2048" height_o="1360" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0446_o.JPG" data-mid="8746369" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0440_860.JPG" width="860" height="1294" width_o="1424" height_o="2144" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1774950/DSC_0440_o.JPG" data-mid="8746431" border="0" align="left"/> 'Drape Form' is the result of a 4-day collaboration intensive collaboration between four member schools of the Fabrication Robotics Network hosted by the American University of Sharjah. The project takes repeated components - minimal surface funnels created through a CNC draped thermoforming process - and arrays them in a non uniform manner. The funnels are then robotically trimmed to uniquely fit their place within the array.Credits: Jeremy Ficca, Carnegie Mellon University Charles Jones, American University of Sharjah Wes McGee, University of Michigan Dave Pigram, University of Technology Sydney Kevin Sweet, American University of Sharjah 'Drape Form' is the result of a 4-day collaboration intensive collaboration between four member schools of the Fabrication Robotics Network hosted by the American... http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/Re-Frame http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/Re-Frame Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:38:58 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 1630025 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1630025/aspectratio22_860.jpg" width="860" height="600" width_o="860" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1630025/aspectratio22_o.jpg" data-mid="7992360" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1630025/aspectratio25_860.jpg" width="860" height="600" width_o="860" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1630025/aspectratio25_o.jpg" data-mid="7992398" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1630025/aspectratio2_860.jpg" width="860" height="600" width_o="860" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1630025/aspectratio2_o.jpg" data-mid="7992407" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1630025/RF_860by600_860.jpg" width="860" height="600" width_o="860" height_o="600" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1630025/RF_860by600_o.jpg" data-mid="8209488" border="0" align="left"/> http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/Wave-Pavillion http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/Wave-Pavillion Tue, 26 Apr 2011 02:28:55 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 1356979 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0000_00_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0000_00_o.jpg" data-mid="6596975" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0001_01_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0001_01_o.jpg" data-mid="6596976" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0002_02_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0002_02_o.jpg" data-mid="6596978" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0003_03_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0003_03_o.jpg" data-mid="6596979" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0004_04_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0004_04_o.jpg" data-mid="6596981" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0005_05_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0005_05_o.jpg" data-mid="6596983" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0006_06_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0006_06_o.jpg" data-mid="6596984" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0007_Design_Diagram_00_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0007_Design_Diagram_00_o.jpg" data-mid="6596985" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0008_Design_Diagram_01_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0008_Design_Diagram_01_o.jpg" data-mid="6596986" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0009_Design_Diagram_02_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0009_Design_Diagram_02_o.jpg" data-mid="6596987" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0010_Design_Diagram_03_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0010_Design_Diagram_03_o.jpg" data-mid="6596988" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0011_Design_Diagram_04_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0011_Design_Diagram_04_o.jpg" data-mid="6596989" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0012_Design_Diagram_05_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0012_Design_Diagram_05_o.jpg" data-mid="6596990" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0013_Design_Diagram_06_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0013_Design_Diagram_06_o.jpg" data-mid="6596991" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0014_Background_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1356979/wavePavillion__0014_Background_o.jpg" data-mid="6596992" border="0" align="left"/> The proliferation of digital fabrication within the discipline of architecture carries the promise of ultimate customization, the built realization of previously untenable forms, and unprecedented fluidity between design and construction. In practice, however, there seems the tendency to exploit only a small fraction of the potential afforded by this technology. As an alternative to the oft-explored strategies of sectioning and panelization—the ‘go to’ moves for rationalizing complex form—we propose a new tectonic mode, one in which the architectural vehicle of the Line is explicitly leveraged toward the nuanced description of space. Grounded in traditions of drawing, this new morphology rises from a monad of simple linear geometry. This crude but variable base unit, deployed within an assembly via complex relational logics, emerges as more than just Line, instead evoking surface, becoming atmosphere. The Wave Pavilion instantiates these aspirations. . The Pavilion operates as landscape furniture, an occupiable space of gathering and leisure. Set on the grounds of the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, the Wave Pavilion serves both a functional role as a place for student discussion groups or private reflection and a didactic one within the dialogue of digital fabrication. Here, Line is made real in the form of slender steel rod. By a scripted strategy of geometric evolution, the individual members of our line species coalesce into a form-society, one in which the intrinsic behavioral tendencies of the species compound with environmental motivators linked to the spatial and programmatic needs of the project. Gradients of pattern read across the breadth of the Pavilion, but moments of eccentricity—phase shifts, vestigial phenotypes, dormant features—highlight the composite relational processes of the underlying system. Here Line becomes a means of challenging the ubiquity of the Blob within scripted/parametric form-making; geometric composition supplying all the complexity and nuance for which we have become enamored of calculus-dependent design. The proliferation of digital fabrication within the discipline of architecture carries the promise of ultimate customization, the built realization of previously... http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/About http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/About Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:38:35 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 1149476 The Fabrication Robotics Network is a platform for the sharing of knowlegde and techniques related to advanced fabrication, in particular that which takes advantage of industrial robotic equipment and algorithmic design techniques.The current alliance member institutions are: University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, University of Technology, Sydney, American University of Sharjah and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Fabrication Robotics Network is a platform for the sharing of knowlegde and techniques related to advanced fabrication, in particular that which takes advantage... http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/Wave-Pavilion-Fabrication http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/Wave-Pavilion-Fabrication Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:46:15 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 1148695 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0000_weld_paint_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0000_weld_paint_o.jpg" data-mid="6596934" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0001_Connection_Detail_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0001_Connection_Detail_o.jpg" data-mid="6596937" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0002_Geometry_Translation_00_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0002_Geometry_Translation_00_o.jpg" data-mid="6596941" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0003_Geometry_Translation_01_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0003_Geometry_Translation_01_o.jpg" data-mid="6596943" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0004_Geometry_Translation_02_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0004_Geometry_Translation_02_o.jpg" data-mid="6596944" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0005_Robotic_Bending_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0005_Robotic_Bending_o.jpg" data-mid="6596945" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0007_bending_tool_fab_00_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0007_bending_tool_fab_00_o.jpg" data-mid="6596948" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0006_bending_tool_fab_01_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0006_bending_tool_fab_01_o.jpg" data-mid="6596947" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0008_Bending_Diagram_00_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0008_Bending_Diagram_00_o.jpg" data-mid="6596950" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0009_Bending_Diagram_01_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0009_Bending_Diagram_01_o.jpg" data-mid="6596952" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0010_Bending_Diagram_02_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0010_Bending_Diagram_02_o.jpg" data-mid="6596956" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0011_Bending_Diagram_03_860.jpg" width="860" height="524" width_o="860" height_o="524" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1148695/wavePavillion__0011_Bending_Diagram_03_o.jpg" data-mid="6596958" border="0" align="left"/> http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/Periscope-Tower http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/Periscope-Tower Mon, 21 Feb 2011 04:13:36 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 1084657 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1084657/periscope_Elev_860.jpg" width="860" height="428" width_o="860" height_o="428" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1084657/periscope_Elev_o.jpg" data-mid="5528644" border="0" align="left"/> Periscope is the win­ning entry in the 10up Inter­na­tional Com­pe­ti­tion designed by Mat­ter Design in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Dave Pigram of supermanoeu­vre and Matt John­son of SGH. The com­pe­ti­tion brief requested a tem­po­rary instal­la­tion to act as sig­nage for the Mod­ern Atlanta Event that could be installed in 24 hours in a plot 10’x10’ for less than $5,000.The design team pro­posed to build a 50′ tall foam tower. The tower went up in only 6 hours with the aid of Tier­son Boutte of Boutte Tree. The project was constructed using a robotically mounted hot-wire as shown in the video below. Robotic Fab­ri­ca­tion sup­port donated by the FabLab at Taubman College of Architecture, University of Michigan. Periscope is the win­ning entry in the 10up Inter­na­tional Com­pe­ti­tion designed by Mat­ter Design in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Dave Pigram of... http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/Bent http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/Bent Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:30:21 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 1073540 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1073540/PipeDreams_00_860.jpg" width="860" height="428" width_o="860" height_o="428" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1073540/PipeDreams_00_o.jpg" data-mid="5528186" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1073540/PipeDreams_01_860.jpg" width="860" height="428" width_o="860" height_o="428" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/1073540/PipeDreams_01_o.jpg" data-mid="5528187" border="0" align="left"/> Looking at the seven axis industrial robotic arm as the ultimate fabrication multi-tool, where seemingly any attachment can be invented, Bent encourages dialogue between design methodologies and fabrication processes. Access to technologies developed for industrial automation leverages latent links between virtual protocols and tangible deliverables. It furthers 'digital craft' as a mode of practice, choreographing exchanges between physical material and digital processes while positioning tooling as a generator for architectural design. Exploiting the production efficiencies of digital design and fabrication, a proof-of-concept prototype (7’x7½’x8½’) was produced using a feedback-loop algorithmic design process and custom fabrication workflow. Bent started with the intention to develop the tooling and workflow to directly bend small-diameter steel tubing using the robotic arm. An investigation of precedents in bending technology initially suggested various methodologies— having the robot draw tubing around a stationary die, or trying to replicate the functionality of a standard CNC bending machine—but in the end a modest conduit bender was utilized. By essentially attaching a split conduit bender to a pneumatic gripper, the robotic arm was tooled to produce multiple bends in a single piece of steel tube. The precision required to produce the desired bend angles called for the addition of a pneumatic clamp driven through the robot’s external outputs to minimize unwanted rotation as the tool re-grips the tube. Concurrent to tooling development, the team conceptualized an architectural application for small-diameter tube bending: a lattice frame system made structural through bundling and branching. A series of algorithms were developed to layer pipe, and iterative feedback between the algorithms producing the structure and the performance of the fabrication design produced an evolutionary morphology of both the fabrication process and the formal design. . Successive attempts at choreographing the interaction between the robotic arm and the tubing through sequential bends and rotations provided geometric parameters that were fed back into the lattice system's generative algorithm. Distance between bends increased and the relative angles between bends were limited. As the parameters were refined according to the fabrication constraints, a system of layered helices emerged from layering lines. Ultimately, the helical geometry of the prototype's lattice system was a product of material and tooling efficiencies. The connection detail was chosen to play off of the ductility of the material and its transformation into a rigid structure. The expandable and reversible hose clamp provided a standard means for bundling parallel segments. As the layers are built up, the clamp expands to hold them in place. Once all of the layers are in place, the clamps are tightened and the helical frame is locked. Because the structural logic of the helical frame is based on a process of additive layering, variation in the scale of the frame can be supported through additional layers of bundled pipe. As the scale increases, so does the number of nodes where the structure branches to brace itself. Since material properties are directly integrated into the script producing the formal design as well as the fabrication instructions, the same helical system can be applied at multiple scales. Changes in material properties, scale, or overall form, are reflected in the output of the fabrication instructions. The project ultimately produced a rubric for further work on relationships between design methodologies and fabrication processes. The next phase of the work is looking toward interfacing other materials to develop a system to clad the structure. For now, a fluid workflow between the virtual and the tactile was developed. There is elegance in the legibility of the tool and fabrication process in the final production, providing some transparency of the translation from the digital model to the physical form. The design of the tool is inseparable from the aesthetics of the formal system, inseparable from the architecture proposed by the prototype. Looking at the seven axis industrial robotic arm as the ultimate fabrication multi-tool, where seemingly any attachment can be invented, Bent encourages... http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/SuperKUKATools http://cargocollective.com/fabroboticsnet/following/fabroboticsnet/SuperKUKATools Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:44:31 +0000 Fabrications Robotics Network 876482 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/876482/superKUKA_Foam_860.jpg" width="860" height="428" width_o="860" height_o="428" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/2/72746/876482/superKUKA_Foam_o.jpg" data-mid="5528622" border="0" align="left"/> SuperKuka Tools is a custom written software package for executing a variety of typical fabrication processes including 2-dimensional knife-cutting, large-scale additive fabrication (foam deposition), robot-mounted hot-wire cutting, and robot-tended rod-bending on a KUKA 7-Axis Industrial Robot. The package produces a fabrication methodology which integrates fabrication constraints within the architectural design process through custom written algorithms. The method enables the translation from three-dimensional geometry, or algorithmically produced data, into appropriately formatted machine codes for direct CNC fabrication within a single CAD modeling environment. This process of translation between a CAD geometry and machine code is traditionally one-way with part files translated via dedicated machine programming software (CAM). By integrating a toolpath creation into the design package and an open framework, the translation from part to machine code is automated, parametrically driven by the generative algorithms or explicitly modeled by the user. This integrated approach opens the possibility for direct and instantaneous feedback between fabrication constraints and design intent. . Though these tools were initially developed for specific use with a Kuka 7-axis Industrial Robot within the scope of a limited set of processes, they have since been expanded for non-specific machine and process application as SuperMatterTools, a package written in Python. The greater aim of this adaption is to produce an open source methodological framework to be utilized by the schools and research bodies associated with the Fabrication Robotics Network. The methodologies function within a greater body of collective knowledge with the common goal of improving the feedback relations between formational design processes and material and fabrication concerns. SuperKuka Tools is a custom written software package for executing a variety of typical fabrication processes including 2-dimensional knife-cutting, large-scale...