RAF | A framework for symbiotic agencies in robotic – aided fabrication

The research presented in this paper utilizes industrial robotic arms and new material technologies to model and explore a different conceptual framework for ‘robotic-aided fabrication’ based on material formation processes, collaboration, and feedback loops. Robotic-aided fabrication as a performative design process needs to develop and demonstrate itself through projects that operate at a discrete level, emphasizing the role of the different agents and prioritizing their relationships over their autonomy. It encourages a process where the robot, human and material are not simply operational entities but a related whole. In the pre-actual state of this agenda, the definition and understanding of agencies and the inventory of their relations is more relevant than their implementation. Three test scenarios are described using human designers, phase-changing materials, and a six-axis industrial robotic arm with an external sensor. The common thread running through the three scenarios is the facilitation of interaction within a digital fabrication process. The process starts with a description of the different agencies and their potentiality before any relation is formed. Once the contributions of each agent are understood they start to form relations with different degrees of autonomy. A feedback loop is introduced to create negotiation opportunities that can result in a rich and complex design process. The paper concludes with speculation on the advantages and possible limitations of semi-organic design methods through the emergence of patterns of interaction between the material, machine and designer resulting in new vistas towards how design is conceived, developed, and realised

RAF | A framework for symbiotic agencies in robotic – aided fabrication

The research presented in this paper utilizes industrial robotic arms and new material technologies to model and explore a different conceptual framework for ‘robotic-aided fabrication’ based on material formation processes, collaboration, and feedback loops. Robotic-aided fabrication as a performative design process needs to develop and demonstrate itself through projects that operate at a discrete level, emphasizing the role of the different agents and prioritizing their relationships over their autonomy. It encourages a process where the robot, human and material are not simply operational entities but a related whole. In the pre-actual state of this agenda, the definition and understanding of agencies and the inventory of their relations is more relevant than their implementation. Three test scenarios are described using human designers, phase-changing materials, and a six-axis industrial robotic arm with an external sensor. The common thread running through the three scenarios is the facilitation of interaction within a digital fabrication process. The process starts with a description of the different agencies and their potentiality before any relation is formed. Once the contributions of each agent are understood they start to form relations with different degrees of autonomy. A feedback loop is introduced to create negotiation opportunities that can result in a rich and complex design process. The paper concludes with speculation on the advantages and possible limitations of semi-organic design methods through the emergence of patterns of interaction between the material, machine and designer resulting in new vistas towards how design is conceived, developed, and realised

Robotic Assisted Design: A study of key human factors influencing team fluency in human‐robot collaborative design processes

Architecture is going through a new phase of consolidation after a paradigm shift on how architecture is conceived and produced. It includes an increase in interdisciplinary approaches, a deep relationship between architecture and technology, a new era of trial and error – of prototyping in theory and in practice – and, most importantly, a change in the relationship between thinking and doing. Work within architecture research laboratories has focused on connecting parametric models with robotic manufacturing tools and materials that allow the production of many different, customised parts. This idea stems from viewing robots as precisely controlled machines for fabrication and has led to the current scenario of relatively unchanged models of human-machine interaction and design processes. However, evolution in the field of human–robot collaboration suggests that the implementation of technological change should not be viewed simply as an engineering problem. It is crucial to understand the human factors that are needed for the successful integration and implementation of new technologies. This dissertation aims to understand key human factors that influence the development of symbiotic agencies in robotic‐assisted design. It explores the relationship between digital architectural design and its materialisation through a collaborative process between designer manipulation, phase‐changing materials and robotic fabrication. In this context robotic technology is utilised as an ‘amplifier’ in the design process to realise geometries and architectural visions through iterative feedback loops. The robotic environment enables synchronised analogue and digital modelling through robotic agency within a dialogic design process between materials, computational hardware, software tools and the designer. Experiments, case studies and a controlled user study have been developed to test this workflow and evaluate the theoretical framework of key human elements that need to be considered for the successful implementation of human-robot collaboration in the architectural design proces

A Novel Teaching System for Industrial Robots

The most important tool for controlling an industrial robotic arm is a teach pendant, which controls the robotic arm movement in work spaces and accomplishes teaching tasks. A good teaching tool should be easy to operate and can complete teaching tasks rapidly and effortlessly. In this study, a new teaching system is proposed for enabling users to operate robotic arms and accomplish teaching tasks easily. The proposed teaching system consists of the teach pen, optical markers on the pen, a motion capture system, and the pen tip estimation algorithm. With the marker positions captured by the motion capture system, the pose of the teach pen is accurately calculated by the pen tip algorithm and used to control the robot tool frame. In addition, Fitts’ Law is adopted to verify the usefulness of this new system, and the results show that the system provides high accuracy, excellent operation performance, and a stable error rate. In addition, the system maintains superior performance, even when users work on platforms with different inclination angles