The Development of a Robot for Paving Floors with Ceramic Tiles

Abstract

In 1997 a development project was started aiming on mechanisation of the process of paving floors with ceramic tiles. Together with a number of companies from The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium and with additional funding from the European Commission the project was carried out by A+ innovations in cooperation with the Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Architecture, Building and Planning. The development was based on an analysis of the traditional tiling process and includes a range of devices for several stages of the tiling process. This paper includes a short overview of the total development. More particular it focuses on the core development: the tiling robot. Several concepts are discussed. This holds for the robot device but also for the carriage, the software and the control. A special aspect was the necessity of 'forward tiling'. As a consequence the robot has to move over the tiles that have been laid just a minute ago. It is evident that this approach is critical for the mortar bed. Also the development of a mortar bed was part of the development. Finally conclusions are drawn: Apart from the deliverables of the project, which implies a.o. a working robot also conclusions have been drawn regarding the main success factors. The development is based on a market problem; The development is structured by experience with product development; The market (tiler) was involved in the development, especially during the definition phase and in testing situations; The commitment and drive of the participants