Robotic Platform for Cyber-Physical Assembly

Research Project 16-1 (RP 16-1)

IntCDC Research Project 16-1 – Robotic Platform for Cyber-Physical Assembly
ROBOTIC PLATFORM FOR CYBER-PHYSICAL ASSEMBLY OF LONG-SPAN FIBRE-COMPOSITE STRUCTURES

This research project aims to develop a cyber-physical on-site construction platform for high performance long-span buildings. The long-term goal is to automate the material handling and on-site assembly of prefabricated fibre-composite elements using a ground-based, medium-payload, mobile, robotic boom manipulator. The team has the expertise needed to reach this goal by achieving interdisciplinary advances in the areas of cyber-physical construction platform design, sensor selection and real-time signal processing, algorithms for motion control, robot gripper design and human-machine interaction.

On the one hand, autonomous construction requires control decisions to be made in response to rich sensory input. To this end, a real-time robot total station network will be installed on the construction site to locate the assembly robot at any time. This precise and robust system for measuring absolute positions will enable the automation of robot motion and building assembly, as well as status monitoring of building elements. Complementary robot-fixed sensor systems will support detailed physical observations of the construction progress and (together with RP 8-1, Cyber-Physical Construction Platform) monitoring of the condition of building elements. The robot will use all this information to perform relatively simple task steps autonomously.

On the other hand, to enable integration into a wide range of complex assembly processes and to deal with any problems that may arise, we will develop an intuitive haptic user interface that will allow a human operator on site to directly control the motion of the robot when required. Haptic feedback from the robot's sensors will enable the operator (and later the robot itself) to respond appropriately to physical contact during the assembly process, while cues from the digital model of the structure will virtually guide the execution of the present task step.

Overall, this project aims to create a cyber-physical construction platform that can precisely place large building elements without damaging the building structure. We believe that robotic automation based on precise localisation and haptic feedback will speed up assembly and lead to a more efficient and correct construction process. Together with RP 8-1, this research project is making a significant contribution to the demonstrator by developing one of the IntCDC instrumentation platforms.

 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

Dr. Katherine J. Kuchenbecker
Haptic Intelligence Department (MPI-IS, HI), Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Oliver Sawodny
Institute for System Dynamics (ISYS), University of Stuttgart
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Volker Schwieger
Institute of Engineering Geodesy (IIGS), University of Stuttgart

TEAM

Dr.-Ing. Otto Lerke (IIGS)
Dr. Bernard Javot (MPI-IS,HI)
Yijie Gong (MPI-IS, HI)
Anja Lauer (ISYS)
Mayumi Mohan (MPI-IS, HI)
Natalia Sanchez-Tamayo (MPI-IS,HI)
Naomi Tashiro (MPI-IS,HI)

 

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

  1. 2024

    1. Gienger, A., Stein, C., Lauer, A. P. R., Sawodny, O., & Tarín, C. (2024). Data-Based Reachability Analysis and Optimized Robot Positioning for Co-Design of Construction Processes. 2024 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII).
    2. Gong, Y., Mat Husin, H., Erol, E., Ortenzi, V., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2024). AiroTouch: enhancing telerobotic assembly through naturalistic haptic feedback of tool vibrations. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2024.1355205
    3. Herschel, M., Gienger, A., Lauer, A. P. R., Stein, C., Skoury, L., Lässig, N., Ellwein, C., Verl, A., Wortmann, T., & Tarin Sauer, C. (2024). Putting Co-Design-Supporting Data Lakes to the Test: An Evaluation on AEC Case Studies. International Conference on Big Data Analytics and Knowledge Discovery (DAWAK).
    4. Mohan, M., Nunez, C. M., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2024). Closing the Loop in Minimally Supervised Human-Robot Interaction: Formative and Summative Feedback. Scientific Reports, 14(10564), Article 10564. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60905-x
    5. Opgenorth, N., Cheng, T., Lauer, P. R. A., Stark, T., Tahouni, Y., Treml, S., Göbel, M., Kiesewetter, L., Schlopschnat, C., Zorn, M. B., Yang, X., Amtsberg, F., Wagner, H. J., Wood, D., Sawodny, O., Wortmann, T., & Menges, A. (2024). Multi-scalar computational fabrication and construction of bio-based building envelopes – the livMatS biomimetic shell. Fabricate 2024: Creating Resourceful Futures, 22–31. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.11374766.7
    6. Zhang, R., Xu, X., Liu, K., Kong, L., Wang, W., & Wortmann, T. (2024). Airflow modelling for building design: A designers’ review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 197, 114380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2024.114380

  2. 2023

    1. Gong, Y., Javot, B., Lauer, A. P. R., Sawodny, O., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2023). Naturalistic Vibrotactile Feedback Could Facilitate Telerobotic Assembly on Construction Sites. In 2023 IEEE World Haptics Conference Committee (Ed.), 2023 IEEE World Haptics Conference (WHC) (pp. 169–175). https://doi.org/10.1109/WHC56415.2023.10224499
    2. Lauer, A. P. R., Benner, E., Stark, T., Klassen, S., Abolhasani, S., Schroth, L., Gienger, A., Wagner, H. J., Schwieger, V., Menges, A., & Sawodny, O. (2023). Automated on-site assembly of timber buildings on the example of a biomimetic shell. Automation in Construction, 156, 105118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2023.105118
    3. Lauer, A. P. R., Lerke, O., Blagojevic, B., Schwieger, V., & Sawodny, O. (2023). Tool center point control of a large-scale manipulator using absolute position feedback. Control Engineering Practice, 131, 105388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conengprac.2022.105388
    4. Lauer, A. P. R., Lerke, O., Gienger, A., Schwieger, V., & Sawodny, O. (2023). State Estimation with Static Displacement Compensation for Large-Scale Manipulators. 2023 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII). https://doi.org/10.1109/SII55687.2023.10039134
    5. Lauer, A. P. R., Schürmann, T., Gienger, A., & Sawodny, O. (2023). Force-Controlled On-Site Assembly using Pose-Dependent Stiffness of Large-Scale Manipulators. 2023 IEEE 19th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/CASE56687.2023.10260343
    6. Müller, B., Densborn, S., Kübel, J., & Sawodny, O. (2023). Smooth Path Planning for Redundant Large-Scale Robots using Measured Reference Points. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 56(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2023.10.1586
    7. Oberdorfer, M., Schroeter, S., & Sawodny, O. (2023). Adaptive feedforward control using a gaussian process and a recursive least squares algorithm for a hydraulic axial piston pump. 2023 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), 329–334. https://doi.org/10.1109/AIM46323.2023.10196278

  3. 2022

    1. Burns, R. B., Lee, H., Seifi, H., Faulkner, R., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2022). Endowing a NAO Robot With Practical Social-Touch Perception. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2022.840335
    2. Oberdorfer, M., & Sawodny, O. (2022). Modeling and flatness based feedforward control of a hydraulic axial piston pump. 2022 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), 540–545. https://doi.org/10.1109/AIM52237.2022.9863384
    3. Ortenzi, V., Filipovica, M., Abdlkarim, D., Pardi, T., Takahashi, C., Wing, A. M., Di Luca, M., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2022). Robot, Pass Me the Tool: Handle Visibility Facilitates Task-oriented Handovers. 2022 17th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 256–264. https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI53351.2022.9889546
    4. Parlapanis, C., Müller, D., Frontull, M., & Sawodny, O. (2022). Modeling of the Work Functionality of a Hydraulically Actuated Telescopic Handler. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 55(20), Article 20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.09.104
    5. Parlapanis, C., Müller, D., Frontull, M., & Sawodny, O. (2022). Modeling the Driving Dynamics of a Hydraulic Construction Vehicle. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 55(27), Article 27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.10.554

  4. 2021

    1. Abdlkarim, D., Ortenzi, V., Pardi, T., Filipovica, M., Wing, A. M., Kuchenbecker, K. J., & Di Luca, M. (2021). PrendoSim: Proxy-Hand-Based Robot Grasp Generator. Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - ICINCO, 1, 60–68. https://doi.org/10.5220/0010549800600068
    2. Lauer, A. P. R., Blagojevic, B., Lerke, O., Schwieger, V., & Sawodny, O. (2021). Flexible Multibody System Model of a Spider Crane with two Extendable Booms. IECON 2021 - 47th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/IECON48115.2021.9589471
    3. Lerke, O., & Schwieger, V. (2021). Analysis of a kinematic real-time robotic total station network for robot control. Journal of Applied Geodesy, 15(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/doi:10.1515/jag-2021-0016
    4. Oei, M., & Sawodny, O. (2021). Attitude estimation for ground vehicles using low-cost sensors with in-vehicle calibration. Proceedings of the Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA), 26–31. https://doi.org/10.1109/CCTA48906.2021.9658775
    5. Rupp, M. T. M., Valder, R., Knoll, C., & Sawodny, O. (2021). Cascaded Time Delay Compensation and Sensor Data Fusion for Visual Servoing. 2021 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), 504–509. https://doi.org/10.1109/SMC52423.2021.9659177

  5. 2019

    1. Schwieger, V., Menges, A., Zhang, L., & Schwinn, T. (2019). Engineering Geodesy for Integrative Computational Design and Construction. Zeitschrift Für Geodäsie, Geoinformation Und Landmanagement (ZfV), 144(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.12902/zfv-0272-2019

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

  1. 2024

    1. Lauer, A. P. R. (2024). Automatisierte Vor-Ort-Montage von Holzbauteilen mittels zweier hydraulischer Großraummanipulatoren [Shaker Verlag, Düren]. In O. Sawodny (Ed.), Berichte aus dem Institut für Systemdynamik Universität Stuttgart (Vol. 75). http://dx.doi.org/10.18419/opus-13883

  2. 2023

    1. Mohan, M., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2023). OCRA: An Optimization-Based Customizable Retargeting Algorithm for Teleoperation. https://www.ais.uni-bonn.de/ICRA2023AvatarWS/contributions/ICRA_2023_Avatar_WS_Mohan.pdf

  3. 2022

    1. Schwieger, V., Zhang, L., Lerke, O., & Balangé, L. (2022). The Research Cluster Integrative Computational Design and Construction (IntCDC) – Current Engineering Geodetic Contribution. XXVII FIG Congress 2022, Warsaw, Poland.

DATA SETS

  1. 2023

    1. Gong, Y., Javot, B., Lauer, A. P. R., Sawodny, O., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2023). User Study Dataset for Understanding On-Site Construction Activities with Haptic Perception. Edmond. https://doi.org/10.17617/3.PAFGCA

  2. 2022

    1. Burns, R. B., Lee, H., Seifi, H., Faulkner, R., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2022). User Study Dataset for Endowing a NAO Robot with Practical Social-Touch Perception. Edmond. https://doi.org/10.17617/3.6w
    2. Burns, R. B., Lee, H., Seifi, H., Faulkner, R., & Kuchenbecker, K. J. (2022). Sensor Patterns Dataset for Endowing a NAO Robot with Practical Social-Touch Perception. Edmond. https://doi.org/10.17617/3.6x

    

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