The Master in Robotics and Advanced Construction (MRAC) seeks to train a new generation of interdisciplinary professionals who are capable of facing our growing need for a more sustainable and optimised construction ecosystem. The Master is focused on the emerging design and market opportunities arising from novel robotic and advanced manufacturing systems.
Through a mixture of seminars, workshops, and studio projects, the master programme challenges the traditional processes in the Construction Sector. It investigates how advances in robotics and digital fabrication tools change the way we build and develop processes and design tools for such new production methods.
Animating Light with a 6 Axis Robot Light painting—an extraordinary photography technique that transforms the darkness into a canvas and lights into brushes. In this blog post, we’ll present our concept of Van Glow, a robotic arm End Effector that can create animations with light. ContextLight painting is a photographic technique where exposure is made … Read more
The primary goal of this project is to design and fabricate a custom end-effector that can be attached to an ABB robot. The system that our group decided to explore involves the idea of utilizing an airbrush and robotically controlling it. This system will utilize a Raspberry Pi Pico for control and Grasshopper for generating … Read more
The idea behind ReWood Dynamics centers on an innovative approach to using waste wood in the construction industry. This concept involves a two-phased process to transform discarded wood into a usable and sustainable building material. Initially, the concept requires a delignification treatment of waste wood. This process aims to enhance the structural integrity of the … Read more
Stack Lamination: Exploring the Intersection of Subtractive and Additive Manufacturing Brief: This workshop was conceived with the aim of familiarizing participants with the procedural intricacies of Stack Lamination milling, employing an Industrial KUKA robot arm. The methodology encompassed the integration of both digital and conventional fabrication approaches. We engaged in practical applications of 3-axis CNC … Read more
Exploring the Intersection of Subtractive and Additive Manufacturing In the pursuit of challenging manufacturing norms and pushing the boundaries of creativity, our team delved into the intricate world of stack lamination during the recent workshop. Focused on creating functional and visually stunning furniture pieces for a potential cafeteria in Barcelona, our journey unfolded through three … Read more
A City’s Revolution has come!Uplifting its community by changing the perception and usage of modern cities through Hygiene Barcelona’s lack of public toilets can lead to unhygienic situations such as relieving oneself on the streets of the city but also having to find another solution without the guarantee of knowing if the facilities will be … Read more
During this one week workshop we explored the combination of stack lamination and 5 axis robotic milling for the speculative production of furniture for the new IAAC cafe. As a group we conceptualized and developed 3 items of furniture that could be produced using stack lamination. Each design was rationalized to make use of a … Read more
Brief Our curiosity brought us to an intriguing investigation at the nexus of technology, craftsmanship, and acoustics in the quest to elevate spatial design. This blog shares the story of our journey, where we used a cutting-edge multi-material 3D printing technique to produce personalized sound-diffusing walls—a first for the industry. Our concept began with a … Read more
The emergence of additive manufacturing has expanded the horizon for developing designs that are not only more environmentally sustainable but also commercially viable, addressing critical issues in our surroundings. In the field of architecture, multi-material 3D printing opens up a compelling opportunity to imbue intelligence into the surfaces of our built environment by thoughtfully selecting … Read more
State of the Art In the quest for sustainable and energy-efficient cooling solutions, the TerraCool project endeavors to harness the natural properties of clay through the innovative application of multi-material 3D printing technology. This research project aims to develop an advanced evaporative cooling system utilizing seashell ceramic. “TerraCool” is not only a testament to the … Read more
State Of The Art Utilization of robotics within the additive manufacturing world is becoming more and more standardized as the needs of people and the environment are changing. The construction industry itself has to produce more efficient structures with very little to no waste, and the capabilities of robots to do this are very apparent. … Read more
Faculty // Ricardo Mayor, Faculty Assistant // Nestor Beguin , Faculty Assistant // Sheikh Rizvi Riaz
Additive manufacturing has opened up a vast array of possibilities to the creation of more sustainable but also salable designs that can address critical issues in our environment. In the context of architecture, multi-material 3D printing opens the door for an opportunity to embed intelligence into the surfaces in our built environment through material selection … Read more
This project explores the computational logic and thinking to design an iterative growth algorithm that enforces specific filters and rules of selection to inform the assemblage of simple building blocks.In Grasshopper the Anemone plug-in is used as the tool to iterate over the computational logic, informing how the geometry will behave within the digital environment … Read more
The introductory software course emphasizes computational logic, focusing on the assembly and growth processes in design, navigated meticulously by grasshopper algorithms. Voxels are introduced as fundamental units, which, when combined and altered, form a complex system of geometric structures. Using plugins like Anemone which allow loops to occur we are easily able to create permutations … Read more
In Software I, we explored computational logic with a focus on iterative processes. Using voxels (short for volume elements), we created collections of geometric elements using the Grasshopper and Anemone plugins. The goal of the seminar was to gain a deeper understanding of iterative processes and computational logic. Specifically, we focused on creating voxel-based shapes … Read more
