Investigations in robotic-assisted design: Strategies for symbiotic agencies in material-directed generative design processes

Abstract

The research described in this article utilises a phase-changing material, three-dimensional scanning technologies and a six-axis industrial robotic arms as vehicles to enable a novel framework where robotic technology is utilised as an ‘amplifier’ of the design process to realise geometries that derive from both constructive visions and architectural visions through iterative feedback loops between them. The robot in this scenario is not a fabrication tool but the enabler of an environment where the material, robotic and human agencies interact. This article describes the exploratory research for the development of a dialogic design process, sets the framework for its implementation, carries out an evaluation based on designer use and concludes with a set of observations. One of the main findings of this article is that a deeper collaboration that acknowledges the potential of these tools, in a learning-by-design method, can lead to new choreographies for architectural design and fabrication.