In‐Situ Fabrication: Mobile Robotic Units on Construction Sites

Abstract

Abstract Enabling the robotic fabrication of building elements directly on a construction site, in‐situ fabrication is a radical and novel approach to the application of digital fabrication in architecture. Volker Helm of ETH Zurich describes how an on‐site unit, developed with Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler in the Architecture and Digital Fabrication department at the university, offers the first‐ever generic robot with applications in a wide range of processes, providing the means of investigating the requirements and capacities involved in non‐standardised fabrication.