Robotic Plaster Spraying: Crafting Surfaces with Adaptive Thin-Layer Printing

Abstract

Embedded in a long tradition of craftsmanship, inside or outside building surfaces, is often treated with plaster, which plays both functional and ornamental roles. Today, plasterwork is predominantly produced through rationalized, time-, and cost-efficient processes, used for standardized building elements. These processes have also gained interest in the construction robotics field, and while such approaches target the direct automation of standardized plasterwork, they estrange themselves from the inherent qualities of this malleable material that are well known from the past. This research investigates the design potentials of robotic plaster spraying, proposing an adaptive, thin-layer vertical printing method for plasterwork that aims to introduce a digital craft through additive manufacturing. The presented work is an explorative study of a digitally controlled process that can be applied to broaden the design possibilities for the surfaces of building structures. It involves the spraying of multiple thin layers of plaster onto a vertical surface to create volumetric formations or patterns, without the use of any formwork or support structures. This article describes the experimental setup and the initial results of the data collection method involving systematic studies with physical testing, allowing to develop means to predict and visualize the complex-to-simulate material behavior, which might eventually enable to design with the plasticity of this material in a digital design tool.

Reinforcement Learning-Based Simulation of Seal Engraving Robot in the Context of Artificial Intelligence

“…Ercan Jenny S et al focused on the automation of gypsum processing in buildings, based on gypsum technology and construction methods. It combines automated robot technology to construct a robot gypsum treatment system, thereby improving the intelligent efficiency of building gypsum treatment [15] . Capunaman Ö B et al focused on the recognition of carved surfaces by robots during the carving process, based on deep reinforcement learning convolutional neural networks.…”

“…Therefore, this study introduces the Soft-Actor-Critic (SAC) algorithm by maximizing the entropy of the strategy while optimizing the overall strategy. The mathematical expression of its target strategy is equation (15).…”

Puttybot: A sensorized robot for autonomous putty plastering

“…However, it is important to note that Pictobot is a semiautomatic system that requires human assistance for precise positioning the platform and navigating around doors and windows. Another notable development in the field includes the introduction of a digital design plaster (Ercan Jenny et al, 2022) and an interactive robot for ornamental work (Mitterberger et al, 2022). In both cases, a manipulator equipped with a spraying gun is employed to carry out the plastering tasks.…”

Puttybot - A sensorized robot for autonomous putty plastering

“…However, it is important to note that Pictobot is a semi-automatic system that requires human assistance for precise positioning the platform and navigating around doors and windows. Another notable development in the field includes the introduction of a digital design plaster 11 and an interactive robot for ornamental work 12 . In both cases, a manipulator equipped with a spraying gun is employed to carry out the plastering tasks.…”