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.
perceiving the world in a human shell called body acting as transition between physical and spiritual The project tackle the understanding of the human existence and complexity of how every aspect in the body perceive life in a different way. “Who am I ?” provides you to feel and experience yourself in a physical world … Read more
Ceramiquest draws inspiration from the ancient art of pottery, augmenting it with virtual reality technologies to create a platform that enables users to generate and modify pottery geometries in an immersive environment. By digitizing this art form while retaining the manual generation process, Ceramiquest simplifies pottery-making and allows to 3D print your virtual creations with … Read more
In recent years, the exploration of multisensory experiences has gained significant attention in the culinary industries. This project focuses on the potential of leveraging virtual reality (VR) to alter and augment the flavours and qualities of beverages and food – specifically wine in our case – through the integration of music and visuals. Virtual reality … Read more
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing multiagent systems that combine the strengths of human, robotic, and virtual agents to perform complex tasks. In this project we theorize on how such a system could be implemented in bricklaying at a construction site, which traditionally relies heavily on human labor. With the … Read more
Autonomous emergency response and safety evaluation system In a catastrophic event geographical region, robots are deployed to collect and process data, allowing the rescue team to analyze the situation from a safe distance and provide an effective rescue operation. Dangerous zones can be accessed by robots without any harm and no human life needs to … Read more
Discrete Assemblies with Gilles Retsin Introduction How can primordial components be aggregated to form complex structures, that are at once easy to assemble and comfortable to live in? This was the question that defined our workshop with instructor Gilles Retsin. During the workshop, Gilles introduced us to his system of assembling buildings from discrete components. … Read more
Parts that Precede Buildings This course helped us to gain a comprehensive understanding of discrete building systems with the use of prefabrication and automation. During this one week workshop, discussed topics such as timber prefabrication, robotics and discrete computation for later on participating with a hands-on approach to build several structures using timber boxes and … Read more
Furniture has become an essential part of modern day society. Problem Currently an average consumer has a two choices, one to either shop at IKEA and get a generic furniture that every household has or to go for a designer furniture that breaks their bank. With the consumers increasingly looking for products that represent their … Read more
Sorting for Salvageable Materials This course was mainly to understand automated collaborative multiagent systems in different environments. Term’s 3 topic (Human-Machine-Collaboration) is recognized through this course by exploring the possibilities of the processes and us being capable of mapping in different diagrams how we imagine a scenario with an automated procedure. For this task, we … Read more
The reference marking system for 3DP processes Problem Traditional 3DP processes lack accurate and reliable reference markers, which can cause errors and inaccuracies in the final print. This can be especially problematic for cyber-physical set-ups that require precise calibration and location of physical geometries on the 3D model. Solution This issue is resolved by Print … 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
Our project involves the fabrication of a curved surface using cork panels that have been discretized into unique four-sided shapes. Our previous approach involved cutting each panel individually, but we aim to streamline the process by using machine learning to classify the panels into five distinct groups. We will then design and create a mold … Read more
This research study delves into the realm of advanced robotics and semi-automated manufacturing processes that take into account the material properties of cork. Specifically, it explores the design and fabrication of a surface system that is optimized for both aesthetic appeal and functional performance. Building on the knowledge gained in a previous term on robotic … 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
AIM \\ Create a design logic that would enable artists and mosaic makers to create unique, one of a kind and highly complex mosaic patterns by giving a second life to broken tiles; having full control of the overall geometry pattern and manufacture of each individual tile through computational technologies and mass production robotic strategies. … Read more
Context Additive manufacturing is growing exponentially in many industries at many levels, pushing towards new upgrades as a competitive alternative by reducing its logistic and production costs and increasing its flexibility and adaptability to the market’s demand. However, there is still an important challenge that it is facing: a gap on matching references between physical … Read more
Context This project seeks for adapting the 3D printing process to known geometries used as supports or external elements as formwork, located in the physical space to save the costs of material and time to produce non reusable ones. These elements are detected through Computer Vision to update the toolpath on the digital model. There … Read more
MRAC Workshop 2.2 Introduction We know that trash is a problem, specifically with respect to construction and demolition waste. The saying is supposed to go, ‘One man’s trash is another’s treasure.’ but at the moment we are missing the processes to intervene in the massive flows of construction and demolition wasted that are sent to … Read more
The construction industry creates a waste that is expected to reach 2.2 billion tons globally by 2025 (Transparency market research). Because of this the market started trying different new techniques to construct with less waste, that is how with the 4.0 industrial revolution came the Additive manufacturing process, that fabricates physical 3D objects layer by … Read more
This project is looking to be a tool that allow the monitoring, messure and documentation of the AM process at the moment of the printing with the help of conventional cameras, analog sensors, robot Data and open source technology Limitless project use different technology process to adquire information and process it. After the creation of … Read more
