Flexible and transportable robotic timber construction platform – TIM
Hans Jakob Wagner, Martín Álvarez, Ondřej Kyjánek, Zied Bhiri, Matthias Buck, Achim Menges
Abstract
This paper presents a new approach to robotic fabrication in the building industry through the conceptualization, development and evaluation of a largescale, transportable and flexible robotic timber construction platform – named TIM. Novel solutions are necessary to make robotic fabrication technologies more accessible for timber construction companies. The developed robotic system is location independent and reconfigurable. It can be rapidly integrated into existing fabrication environments of typical carpentries on a per-project basis. This allows the exploitation of emerging synergies between conventional craft and specialized automation technologies and benefits both quality and productivity of the trade. We portrait how the platform enabled the effective robotic prefabrication of a complex segmented wood shell structure and discuss the fabrication system based on critical performance parameters. Further research is needed to disentangle the mutual dependencies of building-systems and respective automation technologies.