Human-in-the-loop design and production chains have the potential to leverage machine intelligence while incorporating a holistic engagement of designers and fabricators. Harnessing the capabilities of humans within robotic fabrication processes holds substantial potential to enhance versatility, robustness, and productivity, particularly in the context of on-site construction. This research allows users to engage in a cooperative and augmented human-robot design-to-assembly workflow, where humans and robots work together in synergy. This collaboration enables the creation of a complex timber structure that would be unattainable through the efforts of either alone. Initially, a digital design tool guided by human input is used to create the timber assembly's information model, taking into account fabrication constraints, structural stability, and the distribution of tasks between humans and robots. During the augmented assembly process, two mobile robots precisely position timber members and occasionally provide temporary support at critical points in the timber structure. Human participants play an essential role in manually closing the reciprocal frames of the structure and adding mechanical connectors. Both humans and robots share a digital-physical workspace, with humans receiving task instructions through a mobile AR interface, utilizing novel COMPAS XR features.

Credits: XAIA Lab, School of Architecture, Princeton University
Prof. Dr. Daniela Mitterberger, Joseph Kenny (COMPAS XR development), Eleni Alexi

In collaboration with: Prof. Dr. Kathrin Doerfler (TU Munich), Lidia Atanasova (TU Munich, XAIA Lab), Begum Sadal (TU Munich)