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.
Mechanical Inserts for 3D printed Clay Due to land scarcity, the construction industry pushes architecture to shift its focus towards the entire life cycle of the final construction, considering its various phases, from its sourced material and manufacture, to its utilization and eventual end of life. Minimizing material usage and construction time has provoked the … Read more
Rapid urbanization demands more efficient construction methods: Labor shortage in the construction industry: It is important to note the type of machinery being used by these two companies for 3D printing. Tvasta uses a robotic arm equipped with an extruder for printing concrete and L&T uses a gantry system, which is a big framework inside … Read more
The objective of this project is to expand the capabilities of specific robotic processes in additive manufacturing, known as impact printing, Impact Printing, a novel additive manufacturing Robotic technique that consolidates pliable soft particles through a robotic shooting process. The cohesion among these soft particles arises from the conversion of kinetic energy, acquired during acceleration, … Read more
PROJESCT INTRODUCTION This project is a robot end-effector solution that can carry multiple objects and rotate them at different angles and displacements during a single pick and place motion. The solution solves the efficiency problem of current robotics applications in architectural masonry by outputting the robot’s spatial motion through a grasshopper and picking and placing … 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
The industry of construction creates most of the waste in the world. By 2025 we expect to reach 2.2 billion tons globally. As a solution of this problem, industry 4.0 proposed the Additive manufacturing process, which is looking for the optimization of fabrication and construction adding layer by layer different materials; this process started being … Read more
The reference marking system for Additive Manufacturing Context Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies have established and grown significantly over the past few decades, solidifying themselves as a mature and competitive alternative across various sectors of fabrication and construction. This development has been observed across multiple levels and applications of production, primarily due to its remarkable properties … Read more
Preliminary steps towards a hybrid workflow for smooth 3D printed surfaces. Aim To develop a hybrid workflow to obtain smooth surfaces on 3D printed clay for improved alignment and surface finish. State of the Art Additive manufacturing enables the precise and cost-effective creation of complex designs while minimizing waste. One of the shortcomings common to … Read more
Optimizing 3D Printing with AI prediction Introduction In this seminar we applied the concepts of machine learning to estimate the deformation during drying of simplified 3D printed clay objects. To do this, we trained an artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the movement of discrete points within the printed object. This project is very relevant … Read more
The analyzed material of our team in this class is clay, which is a fine/grained sediment primarily composed of small particles of minerals that are formed when rocks are exposed to different elements such as rain, wind and temperature changes. It can be considered as a natural material which is taken from the Earth, however … Read more
AIM \\ To create custom designed, 3D printed interior surface cladding, constructed of individual components with high quality surface finish and tolerance. CONTEXT \\ Last term we designed a dual end effector that would have an extruder and a wire cutter within the same tool, allowing us to post process the 3D printed pieces to … Read more
