Bionook

This blog describes and showcases the second-term research and prototyping for Bionook. Research Topic: Investigating the Synergistic Potential Between Additive Manufacturing Methods and Engineered Timber in Reshaping Urban Design Paradigms. This research delves into precisely integrating sawdust and orange peels as industrial by-product additives for Soil Additive Manufacturing and locally sourced Engineered Timber, synergizing them … Read more

Solis Centrum – the Sun Center of Aleph City

Project Brief Solis Centrum is a project for the BIMSC Studio class within the 2023/24 MaCAD program. This project aims to represent the solar center of the Aleph City community, a conceptual community on Mars located on the Valles Marines. Mission Statement Solis Centrum aims to represent the solar center of the Aleph City community. … Read more

EleMental Mars

Embracing community living and relaxation as essential components to overcome the challenges of life on the Red Planet. In the prospective colonization of Mars, Meditation and Wellbeing were identified as key elements to endure life far from Earth. During the research, the concept of the Japanese Pagoda, a vertical structure that encompasses the five elements … Read more

Saline Manifolds

Thesis Statement Poor quality health services is an emerging  phenomenon in low, middle and even high income countries. The situation is worse in low and middle-income countries where 10 percent of hospitalized patients can acquire an infection during their stay, as compared to seven percent in high income countries. Moreover, the situation is even more dire … Read more

MARTIAN LINK

Reimagining a Human Settlement on the Red Planet Envisioning a self-sustained colony on Mars, our primary focus is on revolutionizing transportation within the red planet. Sustainability is our guiding principle as we design an efficient transportation system that seamlessly connects habitats across various clusters. Incorporating Tensegrity moving parts, Inflatable lightweight structures, and a Hexagonal Grid framework, our approach embraces a Kit-Of-Part methodology. Following … Read more

Timber Narratives

Leveraging Computer Vision for Sustainable Design with dimensional waste timber Building upon the established design principles of disassembly explored in the prior semester, Timber Narratives this semester investigated the potential of computer vision and image analytics to further optimize material conditioning and manufacturing processes for dimensional waste timber. This iterative approach aimed to integrate data-driven … Read more

ReWeave 2.0

The Context Aim State Of The Art The Workflow System Architecture Robotic Cell Scanning – Robotic cell Scanning Nesting – Initial Experiments Nesting Custom logic Iteration A Nesting Custom logic Iteration B Binder – Geopolymer with alkaline activators –  Sodium silicate Binder – Geopolymer with alkaline activators –  Sodium silicate and Sodium hydroxide Binder – … Read more

GAUDI’S CAT

GAUDI’S CAT pavilion is inspired by the geometry of Antonio Gaudi – famous Catenary arches. The structure of the pavilion consists of a central space under the canopy and an open part above. Catenary arches are located in three parts of the pavilion, serving as entrances to it, and elements of Catenary arches are also … Read more

Reliving

State of the Art Raw Timber and AEC Industry Wood waste is often disregarded in the wood industry and the construction industry. Majority of wood used in construction is sawn and processed wood that not only generates waste on its production but it is also associated with high CO2 emissions, because of the embodied energy … Read more

Robotic Manifesto: Embracing Advanced manufacturing in complex architectural geometries

Introduction: In the realm of architecture, we stand at a pivotal moment where traditional construction methods struggle to meet the demands for intricate architectural forms while sustainability concerns continue to mount. As students of the Master in Robotics and Advanced Construction program, guided by the expertise of Mariana Popescu, we advocate for a paradigm shift … Read more

THERMO CHILL – A WEB APPLICATION

INTRODUCTION As we all know that Global warming, caused by the greenhouse effect, is leading to an increase in Earth’s average temperature and the rise in sea levels. Due to the increase in temperature, we are succumbed to high indoor discomfort. Which can be correct by different air conditioning systems. This leads to the increase … Read more

CASA FAMI

A Family-Oriented Home While investigating demographics in Austin, we found that more than one quarter of the families there are single-parent households. Of these, the vast majority are single mothers. With these statistics in mind we arrived at three design considerations: the needs of a single parent household, Austin’s climate, and the unique constraints and … Read more

BIM AND IMMERSIVE REALITIES+ ROBOTIC SYSTEMS FOR ONSITE GUIDANCE AND PRECISION CONSTRUCTION

FOR ON-SITE GUIDANCE AND PRECISION CONSTRUCTION ABSTRACT : Abstract Against the backdrop of declining productivity levels within the construction industry since the 1990s, as highlighted by McKinsey, the digital-physical convergence signifies a paradigm shift in construction practices. The discussion delves into the current state and recent advancements in BIM and AR technologies, noting the recent … Read more

Do Architects Dream of Electric Sheep?

The future of architecture is being shaped by a romantic embrace of technology, exemplified by the concept of the “electric sheep.”  Architects are integrating BIM, computational design, robotics and other advanced tools into their workflows, resulting in a transformative shift in design possibilities. This approach not only improves efficiency, but also fosters greater creativity and inclusivity … Read more

Follow Me

Aim To explore innovative parametric tiling designs through the utilization of robotic tiling setups. The project aim is to utilize the functions of  COMPAS framework and its extensions for robotic planning. Also, to incorporate computer vision and scanning information into the tiling process to enhance precision and efficiency. Design Logic Inspired by the idea of … Read more

CORK.CATENATION

Non planar 3D printing cork based biomaterial CORK.CATENATION employs the novel methodology of non-planar 3d printing using Cork as the bio-material. The final outcome is a connection of interconnected lattice structures- broken down into modules that can be assembled to form a building skin that can morph according to the surface topology and solar radiation results.

Robotic Gaudi

AIM DESIGN The three distinct design methodologies we explored employed grayscale image mapping, where the gray areas functioned as attractors and filters for colored circles. Our second experiment focused on employing curves as generators for the spatial arrangement and packing of a variety of larger circles. The third methodology extended our exploration to the incorporation … Read more

Kangaroo follows the COMPAS

This project documents a 1-week workshop that introduced students to the COMPAS framework. Our goal was to design a tile mosaic that would be part of a collaborative pick-and-place workflow with the UR5, incorporating COMPAS Fab, Kangaroo (Grasshopper), and ROS. What is COMPAS? Utilizing the COMPAS framework developed by Gramazio Kohler Research and the larger … Read more

I-P_Mapper

Context I-P_Maper(Intersection Point Mapper) is a project based on ROS and scanning. It mainly focuses on controlling the robot tool path to scan and get the data we want. Given the time constraints, we maximized our efforts and performed a series of tests in order to develop a program that could accurately identify up to … Read more

Object Database Creation Automation

State of the Art Raw Timber and AEC Industry Wood waste is often disregarded in the wood industry and the construction industry. Majority of wood used in construction is sawn and processed wood that not only generates waste on its production but it is also associated with high CO2 emissions, because of the embodied energy … Read more