Generative agent-based architectural design computation : behavioral strategies for integrating material, fabrication and construction characteristics in design processes

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the generative potential of agent-based systems for integrating material and fabrication characteristics into design processes. This generative agent-based system reflects the significance of behavioral strategies in computational design and construction. This work presents a generative behavioral approach for integrating fabrication processes with material specifications. The development of a computational framework facilitates this integration via an agent-based system. A series of experiments with related case studies emphasizes behavioral strategies within the processes of formation and materialization. This research proposes the integration of material and fabrication processes through an agent-based system. The utilization of this system reflects a theoretical framework in developing an integrative computational method. The implementation of this theoretical framework in practical studies demonstrates the applicability of this research. The practical developments highlight the importance of behavioral strategies to establish integral design computation. Chapter 1 introduces the extended behavioral strategies to integration design. Chapter 2 provides a study about integrative design computation to abstract the main drivers of design integration through agent-based modeling. Chapter 3 presents agent-based systems in architectural design, specifically, in regards to material, fabricational, and environmental principles. Chapter 4 explores experiments and case studies to adjust the development of a generative agent-based system for integrating material and fabrication characteristics in design processes. Chapter 5 explains procedures for setting-up a generative agent-based design computation. Chapter 6 discusses the significance of behavioral strategies to develop different behavioral layers within a generative agent-based architectural design. Chapter 7 concludes the integral behavioral strategies by proposing trends to minimize the gap between formation and materialization through coalescing computational and physical agent-based systems.Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die generativen Potentiale von Agenten-basierten Systemen zur Integration von Material- und Fertigungseigenschaften im Entwurfsprozess zu untersuchen. Diese generative, Agenten-basierten Systeme spiegeln die Bedeutung von Regel- und Verhaltens-basierten Strategien für das digitale Entwerfen, Planen und Konstruieren wider. Die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit stellt einen generativen Ansatz zur Integration der Charakteristika von Material und Fertigung dar. Dies erfolgt über die Entwicklung einer digitalen Methode, die die Integration in ein Agent-basiertes System ermöglicht, was an einer Reihe von Experimenten und Fallstudien und der dazugehörigen Verhaltensstrategien für die Formgenerierung und Materialisierung erprobt wurde. Das operative Potential des theoretischen Rahmens wird in diesen praktischen Studien demonstriert und belegt die Anwendbarkeit der Forschung. Die theoretischen und praktischen Entwicklungen zeigen die Bedeutung von Verhaltensstrategien für das architektonische Entwerfen und einen ganzheitlichen digitalen Gestaltungs- und Bildungsprozess

Using Differential Adhesion to Control Self-Assembly and Self-Repair of Collections of Modular Mobile Robots

Institute of Perception, Action and BehaviourThis thesis presents a novel distributed control method which allows a collection of independently mobile robotic units, with two or three dimensional movement, to self-assemble into self-repairing hierarchical structures. The proposed method utilises a simple model of the cellular adhesion mechanisms observed in biological cells, allowing the robotic units to form virtually bonded aggregates which behave as predicted by Steinberg’s differential adhesion hypothesis. Simulated robotic units based on the design of the subaquatic HYDRON module are introduced as a possible platform on which the model can be implemented. The units are used to carry out a detailed investigation of the model behaviour and parameter space focusing on the two main tasks of rounding and sorting in both two and three dimensions. These tasks assess the model’s ability to reach a thermodynamically stable configuration when the aggregates consist of either a single population of units or multiple populations of units with differing adhesive properties. The results are analysed in detail with particular attention given to the role of random movements in determining the overall performance, and demonstrate that this model provides a very robust solution to these complex tasks. Finally, a possible extension of this work is presented in which the original model is combined with a genetic regulatory network controller. The performance of this composite is evaluated, and the benefits of this hybrid approach, in which a powerful control system manipulates a robust self-organising behaviour, are discussed

Geomorphometry 2020. Conference Proceedings

Geomorphometry is the science of quantitative land surface analysis. It gathers various mathematical, statistical and image processing techniques to quantify morphological, hydrological, ecological and other aspects of a land surface. Common synonyms for geomorphometry are geomorphological analysis, terrain morphometry or terrain analysis and land surface analysis. The typical input to geomorphometric analysis is a square-grid representation of the land surface: a digital elevation (or land surface) model. The first Geomorphometry conference dates back to 2009 and it took place in Zürich, Switzerland. Subsequent events were in Redlands (California), Nánjīng (China), Poznan (Poland) and Boulder (Colorado), at about two years intervals. The International Society for Geomorphometry (ISG) and the Organizing Committee scheduled the sixth Geomorphometry conference in Perugia, Italy, June 2020. Worldwide safety measures dictated the event could not be held in presence, and we excluded the possibility to hold the conference remotely. Thus, we postponed the event by one year - it will be organized in June 2021, in Perugia, hosted by the Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection of the Italian National Research Council (CNR IRPI) and the Department of Physics and Geology of the University of Perugia. One of the reasons why we postponed the conference, instead of canceling, was the encouraging number of submitted abstracts. Abstracts are actually short papers consisting of four pages, including figures and references, and they were peer-reviewed by the Scientific Committee of the conference. This book is a collection of the contributions revised by the authors after peer review. We grouped them in seven classes, as follows: • Data and methods (13 abstracts) • Geoheritage (6 abstracts) • Glacial processes (4 abstracts) • LIDAR and high resolution data (8 abstracts) • Morphotectonics (8 abstracts) • Natural hazards (12 abstracts) • Soil erosion and fluvial processes (16 abstracts) The 67 abstracts represent 80% of the initial contributions. The remaining ones were either not accepted after peer review or withdrawn by their Authors. Most of the contributions contain original material, and an extended version of a subset of them will be included in a special issue of a regular journal publication

Particle Physics Reference Library

This second open access volume of the handbook series deals with detectors, large experimental facilities and data handling, both for accelerator and non-accelerator based experiments. It also covers applications in medicine and life sciences. A joint CERN-Springer initiative, the “Particle Physics Reference Library” provides revised and updated contributions based on previously published material in the well-known Landolt-Boernstein series on particle physics, accelerators and detectors (volumes 21A,B1,B2,C), which took stock of the field approximately one decade ago. Central to this new initiative is publication under full open access

Villages et quartiers à risque d’abandon

The issue of villages and neighborhoods at risk of abandonment is a common topic in many Mediterranean regions and is considered as a strategic point of the new European policies. The progressive abandonment of inland areas, with phenomena of emigration and fragmentation of cultural heritage, is a common trend in countries characterized by economic underdevelopment. This leads to the decay of architectural artifacts and buildings and problems with land management. Some aspects of this issue are also found in several urban areas. The goal of this research work is collecting international debates, discussions, opinions and comparisons concerning the analysis, study, surveys, diagnoses and graphical rendering of architectural heritage and landscape as well as demo-ethno-anthropological witnesses, typological-constructive stratifications, materials and technologies of traditional and vernacular constructions of historic buildings

FPGA-basiertes Template-Matching mit Distanztransformierten Bildern

Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit Implementierungen eines Template-Matching-Algorithmus basierend auf distanztransformierten Bildern (DT-Bildern) zur Erkennung von Verkehrszeichen mittels rekonfigurierbarer Prozessoren. Für die Anwendung ist eine Bildauflösung von 512*512 Punkten und ein Matching mit 36 kreisförmigen und dreieckigen Templates erforderlich. Sowohl die Berechnungen der DT-Bilder als auch des Template-Matchings sind zeitkritisch und können auf einem Standardprozessor nicht in Echtzeit ausgeführt werden. Daher wurde der Ansatz verfolgt, die Berechnungen durch den Einsatz eines FPGA-Koprozessors zu beschleunigen. Als Prototypplattform wurde das PCI-Board MPRACE ausgewählt, welches mit einem modernen Virtex-II XC2V3000-FPGA bestückt ist. Analysen der Algorithmen ergaben, dass diese gut parallelisierbar und mit FPGA-Technologie umsetzbar sind. Alle für die Implementierung entwickelten Module konnten nach dem Pipeline-Prinzip aufgebaut und insgesamt zu drei großen Pipelines zusammengefasst werden. Die ersten beiden Pipelines dienen der Erzeugung der DT-Bilder und benötigen 12 % der Ressourcen des FPGAs. Die dritte Pipeline setzt das Template-Matching um. Die zunächst auf naheliegende Weise hochgradig parallelisierte Implementierung für das Template-Matching erweist sich als sehr ressourcenaufwändig und limitiert die Anzahl der Templates auf 24. Die FPGA-Designs können mit einer Taktfrequenz von 66 MHz betrieben werden, und der gesamte Algorithmus kann damit problemlos in Echtzeit auf dem FPGA berechnet werden. Zur Reduzierung des FPGA-Ressourcenbedarfs für den parallelen Ansatz des Template-Matchings werden mehrere Optimierungsstrategien entwickelt. Der Ressourcenbedarf für das parallele Matching lässt sich hiermit um einen Faktor 3,5 reduzieren, sodass die Anforderung von 36 Templates bereits mit einem kleineren FPGA erfüllt werden kann