Robotically manipulated Facade Components
Partner: Jiansong Yuan + Matthew White
Location: Weitzman School of Design UPenn - Philadelphia, PA
Studio: Material Agencies directed by Robert-Stuart Smith
When: Spring 2021
What material affects emerge when robotic manipulation of clay exceeds the layer-based methods of 3D printing? Are the imprints of robotic tooling different than that of the human hand? In this project, we pushed robotic 3D printing to its limits and developed two novel means of fabrication: 3D printing clay on three-dimensional objects in free space and robotic manipulation of clay in the plastic body stage.
Agent Driven
Agent-based motion solutions were developed to drive robotic motion across the 3D printed clay body. The agent motion studies below are a small sample of the initial output which further developed into the robotic tool pathing for the 6-axis printing and clay forming.
When printed with clay, the agent-driven robotic 3D printing resulted in stunning stochastic material effects, comprised of overlapping, twisting, and chunky material deposition.
Robotic Complexity
An additional layer of agent-driven robotic manipulation was added to the process in which custom stainless steel ball end tools were used to push and smear the clay.
Human Mediated
The tight tolerances of the robotic motion on the clay bodies were navigated through a custom-coded robot tending VR platform. This system enabled the programmer to enter a simulated environment of the next robot program and edit specific motion targets using intuitive human motions. The target could then be seamlessly interpolated back into the program and the code sent to the real robot through the VR platform.
Assembly
The mock-up was assembled from 9 entirely robotically fabricated architectural ceramic components. These pieces are held together with steel tie rods and custom hdpe spacers, designed to align each unique piece with its neighbors. The undulating design of the total assembly create moments of horizontal overlap unifying the structure.
Final mock-up production
This two-minute video shows the creation and final results of our robotically fabricated architectural ceramic facade mock-up.
