Interfaces for Adaptive Assembly

Abstract

While robotic tools have greatly expanded the scope of computational control and design freedom in architectural assembly, the vast majority of projects involving robotic customization depend on standardized, mass produced components. By relinquishing some design agency to automated systems which respond to on-site material variations, it is possible to produce methods of construction which rely on locally-sourced components with low embodied energy. Such adaptive automation can provide resource efficiency and the aesthetic advantages of natural or reclaimed materials, but can also beget technical challenges of increasing complexity. By expanding design goals to incorporate intuitive collaborative interfaces, technical gaps can be understood even by non-experts, and leveraged towards new forms of creative expression. This paper presents the results of an interactive installation in which visitors can provide any variety of objects to a collaborative robotic manipulator (UR5) which recognizes part geometry and attempts to construct a dry-stacked wall from the material offerings. A visual and auditory interface provides suggestions and error messages to participants to facilitate an understanding of the acceptable material morphologies which can be used within the constraints of the system.