This research presents a cooperative heterogeneous multi-robot fabrication system for the spatial winding of filament materials. The system is based on the cooperation of a six-axis robotic arm and a customized 2 + 2 axis CNC gantry system. Heterogeneous multi-robot cooperation allows to deploy the strategy of Spatial Winding: a new method of sequential spatial fiber arrangement, based on directly interlocking filament-filament connections, achieved through wrapping one filament around another. This strategy allows to create lightweight non-regular fibrous space frame structures. The new material system was explored through physical models and digital simulations prior to deployment with the proposed robotic fabrication process. An adaptable frame setup was developed which allows the fabrication of a variety of geometries within the same frame. By introducing a multi-step curing process that integrates with the adaptable frame, the iterative production of continuous large-scale spatial frame structures is possible. This makes the structure’s scale agnostic of robotic reach and reduces the necessary formwork to the bare minimum. Through leveraging the capacities of two cooperating machines, the system allows to counteract some of their limitations. A flexible, dynamic and collaborative fabrication system is presented as a strategy to tailor the fiber in space and expand the design possibilities of lightweight fiber structures. The artifact of the proposed fabrication process is a direct expression of the material tectonics and the robotic fabrication system.
In coreless filament winding, resin-impregnated fibre filaments are wound around anchor points without an additional mould. The final geometry of the produced part results from the interaction of fibres in space and is initially undetermined. Therefore, the success of large-scale coreless wound fibre composite structures for architectural applications relies on the reciprocal collaboration of simulation, fabrication, quality evaluation, and data integration domains. The correlation of data from those domains enables the optimization of the design towards ideal performance and material efficiency. This paper elaborates on a computational co-design framework to enable new modes of collaboration for coreless wound fibre–polymer composite structures. It introduces the use of a shared object model acting as a central data repository that facilitates interdisciplinary data exchange and the investigation of correlations between domains. The application of the developed computational co-design framework is demonstrated in a case study in which the data are successfully mapped, linked, and analysed across the different fields of expertise. The results showcase the framework’s potential to gain a deeper understanding of large-scale coreless wound filament structures and their fabrication and geometrical implications for design optimization.
Fibrous architecture constitutes an alternative approach to conventional building systems and established construction methods. It shows the potential to converge architectural concerns such as spatial expression and structural elegance, with urgently required resource effectiveness and material efficiency, in a genuinely computational approach. Fundamental characteristics of fibre composite are shared with fibre structures in the natural world, enabling the transfer of design principles and providing a vast repertoire of inspiration. Robotic fabrication based on coreless filament winding, a technique to deposit resin impregnated fibre filaments with only minimal formwork, as well as integrative computational design methods are imperative to the development of complex fibrous building systems. Two projects, the BUGA Fibre Pavilion as an example for long-span structures, and Maison Fibre as an example of multi-storey architecture, showcase the application of those techniques in an architectural context and highlight areas of further research opportunities. The highly interrelated aesthetic, structural and fabrication characteristics of fibre nets are difficult to understand and go beyond a designer’s comprehension and intuition. An AI powered, self-learning agent system aims to extend and thoroughly explore the design space of fibre structures to unlock the full design potential coreless filament winding offers. In order to ensure feedback between all relevant design and performance criteria and enable interdisciplinary convergence, these novel design methods are embedded in a larger co-design framework. It formalizes the interaction of involved interdisciplinary domains and allows for interactive collaboration based on a central data model, serving as a base for design optimisation and exploration. To further advance research on fibre composites in architecture, bio-based materials are considered, continuing the journey of discovery of fibrous architecture to fundamentally rethinking design and construction towards a novel, computational material culture in architecture.
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