Robot cell for automated manufacturing in construction

• Subject Area: Construction Engineering and Architecture
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 428099710

Automated manufacturing in the construction industry, in which additive manufacturing forms only one sub-area, is still a relatively young field of research and so far, there is not a single supplier who can offer a standard equipment-specific solution. In this respect, only an individual offer adapted to the needs of the planned projects is considered here. In addition to the needs of current and planned research projects, the results of the operation and utilization concept have also been incorporated in the choice of the device.The reasons for the still broad-based research and development deficit in robot-assisted and additive manufacturing in construction are, among other things, that the investment and material costs for research increase significantly with the size of the components to be manufactured and tested. In addition, as the size of the components increases, so does the complexity of research, so that R & D work in this field must be very interdisciplinary and a breakthrough in this area requires the interaction of larger research collaborations with complementary expertise. With McKinsey's study showing that the construction industry is one of the least digitized industries, the need for research is particularly high and the future innovation potential of sufficient investment in research is also higher than in other sectors.The Institute of Civil Engineering of the Technische Universität Berlin has recognized the challenges that exist in the field of robotics and additive manufacturing in construction at an early stage and has declared it one of their common research goals for the coming years. Together with other research groups of the TU Berlin and beyond, robotics and additive manufacturing in the construction industry will be promoted in the coming years with individual research projects and collaborative projects. In order to be able to afford this, however, it is necessary to invest in the equipment infrastructure, which serves as a basis for further work. As demonstrated by the "Digital Concrete 2018" and "ROB | ARCH 2018" conferences held at the ETH Zurich in September 2018, it is no longer enough to keep pace with future research challenges to build a simple robotic manufacturing facility, but rather to implement it complex processes in construction, several robots must work together and communicate. Based on this, a robot cell with two robots will be procured for the Institute of Civil Engineering in order to be prepared for future research projects.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Roboterzelle für die Automatisierte Fertigung im Bauwesen
• Instrumentation Group: 2110 Formen-, Modellherstellung und gießereitechnische Maschinen
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Berlin
• Leader: Professor Dr. Dietmar Stephan