The SPIDERobot: A Cable-Robot System for On-site Construction in Architecture

Abstract

The use of robots in architectural construction has been a research field since the 1980's. Driven by both productive and creative concerns, different systems have been devised based on large-scale robotic structures, mobile robotic units or flying robotic vehicles. By analyzing these approaches and discussing their advantages and limitations, this paper presents an alternative strategy to automate the building construction processes in on-site scenarios. The SPIDERobot is a cable-robot system developed to perform assembly operations, which is driven by a specific Feedback Dynamic Control System (FDCS) based on a vision system. By describing and illustrating this research work, the authors argue about the advantages of this cable robot system to deal with the complexity and the scale of building construction in architecture.

Productivity of digital fabrication in construction: Cost and time analysis of a robotically built wall

“…On the one hand, on-site digital fabrication aims to bring additive fabrication processes on construction sites. Sousa et al (2016) classified on-site technologies in three main categories: largescale robotic structures, mobile robotic arms, and flying robotic vehicles. A well-known example from the first category is Contour Crafting, a robotic structure for 3D printing large-scale construction, developed at the University of Southern California (Khoshnevis, 2004).…”

Robotic Technologies for Non-Standard Design and Construction in Architecture

“…Finally, the TECHNOLOGY sub-task was carried out at INESC TEC in parallel with the previous ones. Looking for investigating an alternative robotic technology, the SPIDERobot is a functional prototype of a cable-robot based on a vision system, which is capable of performing pick-and-place operations on the construction site (Sousa 2016b). Because its four cables are always above the platform level, the working envelope of the SPIDERobot can be very large.…”

An agile robotic system mounted on scaffold structures for on-site construction work

“…It comprises of an articulated robot mounted on a mobile platform and serves as an alternative to avoid the complex and heavy setup of the large-scale robotic system, while still providing the required mobility for similar work. However, mobile robotic unit faces a problem of ground-based mobility and hence is typically unable to reach elevated heights without the help of specialized equipment such as cable system (Sousa et al 2016). To overcome this challenge, aerial robotic vehicles (Willmann et al 2012) have been explored.…”