FIBERBOTS: an autonomous swarm-based robotic system for digital fabrication of fiber-based composites

Abstract

Construction is a labor-intensive industry that relies on dependent processes being completed in series. Redesigning fabrication processes to allow for parallelization and replacing workers with mobile multi-robot construction systems are strategies to expedite construction, but they typically require extensive supporting infrastructure and strictly constrain fabricable designs. Here we present Fiberbots, a platform that represents a step towards autonomous, collaborative robotic fabrication. This system comprises a team of identical robots that work in parallel to build different parts of the same structure up to tens of times larger than themselves from raw, homogeneous materials. By winding fiber and resin around themselves, each robot creates an independent composite tube that it can climb and extend. The robots' trajectories are controlled to construct intertwining tubes that result in a computationally-derived woven architecture. This end-to-end system is scalable, allowing additional robots to join the system without substantially increasing design complexity or fabrication time. As an initial demonstration of system viability, a structural case study was performed. The robots constructed a 4.5 meter tall tubular composite structure in an outdoor environment in under 12 hours. While further improvements must be made before this can be used in industry or in truly cooperative settings, this is the largest known demonstration of on-site construction with multiple, homogeneous mobile robots. This work offers a scalable step forward in autonomous, site-specific fabrication systems.

Innovation in Additive Manufacturing Using Polymers: A Survey on the Technological and Material Developments

“…For example, the MIT Mediated Matter Group (Media Lab-Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, USA) has created Fiberbots, an autonomous digital fabrication platform based on reconfigurable tubes designed to build large systems during a disaster quickly. The robots are mobile and use sensor feedback to control each tube’s length and curvature [ 24 , 25 ]. Similarly, Kovač et al combined additive manufacturing techniques with aerial robotics.…”

A Proposal for Classification of Additive Manufacturing in Architecture

“…This observation has led to a second research which is based on a swarm of robots "designed to rapidly build high-strength tubular structures by winding fiberglass filament around themselves." (Kayser, 2018). The experiment's innovative approach comprised of 16 robots.…”

Una revisión de plataformas robóticas para el sector de la construcción

“…Otro ejemplo es Fiberbots (Kayser et al, 2018), el cual es un sistema bioinspirado de robots idénticos que construyen distintas partes de la misma estructura en paralelo. Estos crean tubos compuestos que se pueden escalar y extender, controlando la curvatura estos.…”

“…Fuente: Ajustado de (Feng et al, 2014) y (Kayser et al, 2018. ) así como una rotación en el eje z, la cual está asociada a la pinza.…”