RCC. Costruzione Robotica Collaborativa

ABSTRACT

Robotic Collaborative Construction in architecture (RCC) is a design-to-fabrication research project grounded in the idea that human–robot collaboration can be more than the simple replacement of people in repetitive or physically demanding tasks. Rather, by adopting a humanistic approach to technology and maintaining a critical stance towards absolutist visions, we aim to understand when robotics can concretely become added value — and even a necessity — in architecture.

Our ambition is to design new architectures which, through collaborative construction processes, can acquire material, physical and performance qualities capable of having a tangible impact on quality of life, on the environments they interact with, and on efficiency throughout all phases of their life cycle, including construction, while also creating new immersive architectural experiences.

This is how RCC was conceived: to support the design and production of buildings, non-standard prefabricated systems or semi-finished elements whose materialisation is the full expression of an inseparable human–robot interaction — a concrete step towards innovative production that is attentive to the environment, the enhancement of human resources, and traditional raw materials. Yet, well beyond technical and technological aspects, RCC also aspires to be a tool for thinking, enabling us to imagine new possible futures in architecture.

RCC is therefore a design-research project, funded in 2019 by the “Microincentives for Innovation” programme of Sardegna Ricerche and carried out by the architecture practice ALO s.r.l. under the direction of Eng. Marco Verde, MArch. The agenda of the first phase concluded in 2020 with the complete design of the software and hardware innovations required to realise the first pilot prototype of collaborative robotic construction produced in Italy: a double-curvature membrane formed through the assembly of metal components.

Construction required a symbiotic workflow between human and robot: an interaction in which the two alternated in the tasks best suited to their respective abilities, enabling the complexity of the assembly to be managed with agility.

INTRODUCTION

Robotics, like many digital technologies previously confined to factories, is now entering a phase of democratisation.

On the one hand, the strong innovativeness of robotic applications across many spheres of production and human life is widely recognised; on the other, a sense of mistrust emerges because these technologies are often perceived as substituting people. It is certainly true that robotics and digital technologies more broadly have often been adopted to reduce production times and increase productivity, sometimes at the expense of employment in certain professional sectors. At the same time, however, they have also fostered the emergence of new roles or the specialisation of existing ones. In this context, we believe there is the possibility of pursuing an alternative and virtuous path, where robotics is not a banal replacement for people, but a tool to augment human abilities.

By overcoming mistrust — including through widespread technological education — and by developing a critical reflection on the humanistic value of such technologies, a true professional ethics to guide their adoption, we can embark on a research and development path that prioritises interaction between humans and machines and leads to collaborative productions that would not be possible without such interaction.

Perhaps we could speak of an “Industry X”, where X represents a new concept of intersection between humans and machines.

In this context, robotics — like any other tool of automation or computation — would not be used simply for its greater speed or its ability to replicate human actions (a concept already experienced in the era of mechanisation), but rather as a tool to augment human capabilities and perform operations that would otherwise be impossible. There would therefore be no replacement of people, but a sustainable collaboration.

In professional practice, the traditional skills of a craftsperson and those of a robotics and automation specialist already intersect, creating new professional profiles and unprecedented products. Without doubt, the creation of an intellectual and cultural substrate becomes essential to enhance and dignify the adoption of robotics and to define its ethical role in society.

PARAMETRIC DESIGN AND PROGRAMMING ARE ESSENTIAL FOR COLLABORATIVE ROBOTIC FABRICATION IN ARCHITECTURE

Within ALO, we have developed an in-house digital fabrication and robotic fabrication lab where fabrication protocols are researched, developed and prototyped for the construction of adaptable systems, non-standard components and structural building systems with complex geometry which, by their very nature, could not be realised using traditional design and production methods.

We believe that human–robot interaction is a crucial node for the enhancement and dignification of robotics. In 2018 we therefore began our first explorations towards the development of two collaborative robotic digital fabrication protocols aimed at producing building components and complex-geometry structures whose parts are assembled by leveraging the interaction between the robot and one or more operators.

At present, collaborative robotics is often proposed as support for particularly strenuous processes, that is, as a process improvement for existing activities rather than as a tool through which products themselves can be innovated. As a result, the first mechatronic systems for collaborative robotics introduced to the market are equipped with management systems integrated into, or controlled by, the robot controller, based on a form of programming designed for repetitive operations, serial production, or simply to facilitate tasks at the machine.

By contrast, RCC aims to develop effective and dignifying protocols for non-serial production: we want to harness the full potential of digital fabrication systems through a renewed approach. With this objective, the development of integrated parametric design strategies that directly connect design, programming of the robot’s motion paths, and simulation of end-effector actuation — to verify process issues and risk factors — becomes fundamental.

We believe this is the path towards developing designs that are economically effective yet still strongly innovative and sustainable, including for “everyday” small-scale architectural projects.

ROBOTIC COLLABORATIVE CONSTRUCTION

We originally called our protocols “Robotic Collaborative Constructions” (RCC): processes in which humans and machines alternate, enabling complex productions that would be impossible to realise without such alternation.

The RCC method therefore seeks to enhance the dexterity, versatility, sensitivity and intuition of the human operator in favour of greater flexibility and agility in digital production; indeed, digital or robotic production is not always necessary, nor does it always constitute an advantage in terms of project sustainability. The approach is distinctly humanistic, and is therefore aimed at identifying when and why robotics can be added value. RCC procedures make it possible to produce semi-finished elements for a more innovative and sustainable construction industry, also thanks to reduced production errors and reduced waste of raw materials.

At present, research on robotic fabrication in architecture is primarily developed in academia at universities such as ETH (Zurich), AA (London), ICD (Stuttgart), among the leading institutions. In Italy too, the world of architecture is showing growing interest in robotics. In 2015, Studio Ratti, for example, designed a robotic bar, and several universities are equipping themselves accordingly; in this context, ALO has embarked on a genuine research and development path in the field with an aim focused on concrete technology transfer into the built environment, starting from small-scale applications.

LONG-TERM VISION AND INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS FOR ARCHITECTURE

The RCC technologies (hardware + software) developed will be enabling for the creation of new products and services that currently represent the frontier of research in the sector. The most innovative applications are found primarily in large-scale projects intended for non-everyday use, such as museums or exhibition spaces. Thanks to RCC technologies, ALO will instead work to transfer its innovations to architectural production at small scale as well. The aim is to embark on a virtuous and concrete path for the diffusion of quality and innovation in architecture starting from small works which, by virtue of their number and their land consumption, have a significant impact on urban and extra-urban territories.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research activity of the RCC project, for both software and hardware development, was completed thanks to the support of the “Microincentives for Innovation” Programme promoted by Sardegna Ricerche. The funding enabled us to complete an important programme of foundational research, to test the implementation of these protocols in practice, and to prepare to offer our clients a new line of products which we hope to see deployed soon.

We also thank Marini SPA for sponsoring the construction of the pilot prototype by providing laser-cut steel components at their plant in Cagliari.