The IntCDC Instrumentation Platform for On-Site Fabrication, Fitting and Finishing focuses on lighter on-site tasks such as robotic on-site fabrication, fitting and finishing work, which entails navigating through the complex interior of a construction site. It requires both effective human-machine interaction and autonomous teamwork of multiple robots.
Low-payload, mobile, collaborative manipulators
We will develop two low-payload, mobile, collaborative manipulators on caterpillar tracks based on existing caterpillar platforms, additionally equipped for autonomous control and fitted with lightweight manipulators with standard and custom effectors and sensor systems.
For the automation of indoor construction tasks, specifically for the extension of the existing building stock in the third research network, mobile manipulators offer great flexibility and provide digital support for time-consuming tasks such as the positioning or assembly of building elements. Research Project 16-2 focuses on collaborative path and trajectory generation, indoor positioning and environmental sensing algorithms, e.g. simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM). SLAM algorithms are developed for positioning of the mobile manipulators and acquiring 3D information about the respective indoor environment.
Instrumentation Platform for Distributed Robotics
This platform provides the infrastructure for the investigation of the automation of construction with the smallest set of robots within IntCDC. The platform enables research on distributed robotic systems in which robots are generally small enough to fit in a suitcase and must collaborate in teams to assemble and potentially further rearrange structures. Specifically, the platform includes tools for prototyping the robotic systems themselves as well as the hardware necessary to localise the robots when deployed in construction scenarios.
