Papers
In-Situ Robotic Fabrication Of Spatial Glulam Structures
Hua Chai College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
Zhixian Guo Shanghai Fab-Union Technology CO., LTD.
Hans Jakob Wagner Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), University of Stuttgart
Tim Stark Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), University of Stuttgart
Achim Menges Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), University of Stuttgart
Philip F. Yuan College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University
While current approaches in timber construction stress the advantages of off-site prefabrication, glued laminated timber(glulam) structures is limited to the constraints of standardized, prefabricated mostly linear elements, which also lends itself only to building typologies that offer an increased level of standardization and regularity. The design freedom of timber structures is incomparable to that of reinforced concrete structures, which mostly gains from the in-situ fabrication process. An in-situ robotic timber fabrication platform allows the on-site construction of glulam structures with highly differentiated networks of beams composed of robotically assembled discrete linear elements. Based on the possibilities of such mobile robotic fabrication process, this paper explores novel architectural typologies of spatial glulam structures. The research is conducted from several aspects including joint tectonics, design method, and robotic fabrication process. A large-scale pavilion is designed and fabricated to verify the feasibility of the proposed system. This research could provide a novel mode of in-situ robotic timber fabrication and corresponding glulam structure system for timber construction.
Keywords: Mobile Robot; Timber Structure; In-Situ Fabrication; Computational Design; Sdg 9