SCIENCE ROBOTICS | FOCUS

MOBILE MANUFACTURING 2017 The Authors,

some rights reserved;
Robots on construction sites: The potential and exclusive licensee
American Association
challenges of on-site digital fabrication for the Advancement
of Science.

Russell Loveridge* and Tanja Coray

The construction sector is a reluctant adopter of new technology, but advances in materials, processes, and their
implementation using purpose-designed robots aim to change this.

For the past decade, research developing

industrial robotics for the production of
architecture has steadily grown in both
academia and industry (1). Until now,

Downloaded from http://robotics.sciencemag.org/ by guest on April 27, 2017

this research has predominantly focused
on methods of architectural prefabrica-
tion: off-site manufacturing of compo-
nents that are subsequently transported
and assembled on-site. Prefabrication typ-
ically occurs in factory-like settings, away
from weather and unpredictable elements;
such protected, well-structured environ
ments are ideal for contemporary indus-
trial robotics. However, final construction
ultimately occurs in situ, meaning that
there is great unconsolidated potential
for on-site robotic fabrication in the ar-
chitecture, engineering, and construction
(AEC) sectors. Fig. 1. An example of an on-site robotic building process. The IF, equipped with a custom-designed, mechatronic
The primary robotic challenges associ- end effector, is used to build a steel mesh for a 1:1 prototype of a doubly curved Mesh Mould structure.
ated with on-site construction are local-
ization, contextual awareness, and, most
importantly, work precision. The need for ro- sual fiducial system registration. These meth- mental in planning mobile translations from
bust simultaneous localization and mapping ods are successful for the general localization one work pose to the next. Autonomously
(SLAM) is common across most on-site robot and positioning of mobile platforms, but ad moving requires construction robots to be able
applications, with clear precedents to be learned ditional processes are required to increase ac to plan trajectories that address fixed obstruc-
from programs such as the DARPA challenge, curacy at the end effector and to counteract the tions in space, as well as dynamic construction
autonomous driving vehicles, and disaster res- instability of a platform mounted on wheels sites. Further advanced contextual awareness
cue robotics. However, construction robots do or rubber tracks, especially with tilt or yaw should include proximity and other sensors
not necessarily require high-frequency, real- in long-reach, heavy-payload situations. The to address safety and collision concerns.
time context data; current systems improve most important parameter for work is to The In situ Fabricator (IF) robot, developed
processing efficiency by relying on sporadic know the absolute position of the end effector within the Swiss National Centre of Compe-
positional localization of the robot combined rather than the overall pose of the mobile ro- tence in Research Digital Fabrication (NCCR),
with traditional reverse kinematics position- bot itself. is one such mobile construction robot that can
ing of the attached industrial arm. For processes of larger scales and toler- autonomously work and navigate in unstruc-
The main technical challenge for mobile ances, such as placing bricks in algorithmically tured environments. Using such an LRF sys-
robots in unstructured environments is self- generated patterns (2), end-effector localiza- tem, the IF rescans its surroundings after any
localization. A number of strategies have been tion can be achieved by creating a point cloud repositioning, generating a contextual point
developed, including radio- or beacon-based scan using a sweeping laser range finder (LRF) cloud that is computationally pattern-matched
CREDIT: NCCR DIGITAL FABRICATION

positioning [for example, Bluetooth low energy mounted on the end effector. This method using a nonlinear least squares optimization to
(BLE), radio frequency identification (RFID), generates an immediate contextual map that, previous scans (3). The positional shift calcu-
and indoor Global Positioning System (iGPS)] in addition to creating as-built models for lated from the scan provides the displacement
and visual SLAM (vSLAM) methods such as vi- verification and documentation, is also instru- and current location of the end effector, which,
in turn, enables the system to reorient and re-
calculate the next required sequences.
National Centre of Competence in Research Digital Fabrication, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. An interdisciplinary research initiative de-
*Corresponding author. Email: loveridge@dfab.ch veloped at ETH Zrich called Mesh Mould has

Loveridge and Coray, Sci. Robot. 2, eaan3674 (2017) 26 April 2017 1 of 2

SCIENCE ROBOTICS | FOCUS
been developed using the IF platform and com-
bines advances in robotics, sensing, materials
science, structural engineering, and architec-
tural design (see Fig. 1). Mesh Mould aims to
eliminate the formwork used in conventional
concrete structures by using a mobile robot to
fabricate a dense steel mesh that acts as both
a retaining form and the steel reinforcement
for the structure, into which fluid concrete is
poured (4).
For this project, the IF robot was equipped
with a custom-designed mechatronic end ef-
fector, which forms, welds, and cuts metal re-
bar meshes into digitally optimized geometries
(5), saving material and reducing embodied en
ergy (6). The small-scale precision required for
welding the metal mesh is achieved using op-
tical registration from multiple synchronized
cameras mounted on the toolhead, combined
with vSLAM and computer vision processes.
Multiple localization methods make it possible
to orient the end effector within the small tol-
erances required for mesh fabrication.
The Mesh Mould process successfully elim-
inates the need for formwork by strictly con-
trolling the rheology of the poured concrete
such that it does leak out of the mesh, but
only so much that it can be finished afterward
into an exterior surface. No separate form-
work is needed for either standard or highly
complex shapesa significant breakthrough
in how concrete is deployed and a paradigm-
shifting concept for the concrete construction
sector. This in situ fabrication process is a new
hybrid-reinforced concrete material system
directly derived from digital design data that
can only be feasibly implemented using ro-
botic processes. This method is currently in
testing on-site, with a building codecertified
dwelling to be completed in 2018.
Loveridge and Coray, Sci. Robot. 2, eaan3674 (2017)
Other concepts for on-site robotic con-
struction processes using different assembly
systems and materials such as timber and cast
metal are currently also being explored. In
addition to gains in productivity and new op-
portunities for architectural expression, such
methods enable innovations that can contrib-
ute to a more sustainable and high-quality built
environment (7). However, for on-site robotic
technologies to successfully enter mainstream
construction, there is one vital challenge yet
to be addressed: man-machine interfaces and
interactions.
On-site digital fabrication and robotic tech-
nologies will not eliminate construction work-
ers. Robots may replace workers in the most
labor-intensive and repetitive tasks; however,
the tacit and material knowledge retained by
construction professionals remains difficult to
quantify and program. Their skills, procedur-
ally complex knowledge, and tactile sensibil-
ities, combined with the inherently human
ability to deal with unexpected problems, mean
that workers will remain as a consistent pres-
ence on-site. Therefore, any robotic system will
need to have dynamic contextual awareness
that includes robust safety and security systems
and will need to be programmed to play nice
with human co-workers.
The demand for improved construction
is ever-present. The AEC industry is ready for
intelligent, cost-effective technological ad-
vancements, and the combination of decreas-
ing technology costs and increasing demands
for productivity makes this an ideal time for
such research. Robotics and digital fabrication
have brought widespread advantages to other
manufacturing industries, and research is now
well under way to ensure that the construction
sector will be next.
26 April 2017
REFERENCES AND NOTES
1. M. Kohler, F. Gramazio, J. Willmann, in The Robotic
Touch: How Robots Change Architecture (Park Books,
2014), p. 10.
2. K. Drfler, T. Sandy, M. Giftthaler, F. Gramazio, M. Kohler,
J. Buchli, Mobile robotic brickworkAutomation of
a discrete robotic fabrication process using an
autonomous mobile robot, in Robotic Fabrication in
Architecture, Art and Design (Springer International
Publishing, 2016), pp. 205218.
3. T. Sandy, M. Giftthaler, K. Doerfler, M. Kohler, J. Buchli,
Autonomous repositioning and localization of an in situ
fabricator, in Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE International
Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) (IEEE, 2016),
pp. 28522858.
4. N. Hack, W. V. Lauer, F. Gramazio, M. Kohler, Mesh
mould: Robotically fabricated metal meshes as
concrete formwork and reinforcement, in Proceedings
of the 11th International Symposium on Ferrocement
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and 3rd ICTRC International Conference on Textile
Reinforced Concrete (RILEM Publications SARL, 2015),
pp. 347359.
5. N. Kumar, N. Hack, A. Walzer, K. Doerfler, G. Rey,
F. Gramazio, M. Kohler, J. Buchli, Design, development
and experimental assessment of a robotic end-effector
for non-standard concrete applications, in Proceedings
of the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics
and Automation (ICRA) (IEEE, 2017).
6. I. Agust-Juan, G. Habert, When digital fabrication
provides environmental benefits: Study of complex
structures, in World Sustainable Built Environment
Conference (2017).
7. I.Agust-Juan, G.Habert, Environmental design
guidelines for digital fabrication. J. Cleaner Prod. 142,
27802791 (2017).
Acknowledgments: This research was supported by the
NCCR Digital Fabrication, funded by the Swiss National
Science Foundation (NCCR Digital Fabrication Agreement
No. 51NF40-141853).
10.1126/scirobotics.aan3674
Citation: R. Loveridge, T. Coray, Robots on construction sites:
The potential and challenges of on-site digital fabrication.
Sci. Robot. 2, eaan3674 (2017).
2 of 2
 Robots on construction sites: The potential and
challenges of on-site digital fabrication
Russell Loveridge and Tanja Coray
Sci. Robotics2, (2017)
doi: 10.1126/scirobotics.aan3674

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