NCCR Digital Fabrication Dr. Russell Loveridge Managing Director NCCR Digital Fabrication 1
National Centers of Competence in Research (NCCRs) National Centers of Competence in Research (NCCRs) Current NCCRs: 21 Completed NCCRs: 15 Geographical overview of all National Research Priorities in Switz erland Source: Website SNSF 2
NCCR Digital Fabrication START: June 2014 DURATION: 12 years (3 phases at 4 years) Main focus of research: Digital design and planning processes Material and construction systems Novel digital manufacturing methods Institutes: 4 ETH Zurich (Home institution), EPF Lausanne, Berne University of Applied Sciences, Empa Researchers: 13 Principal Investigators, 5 Associate Investigators 40+ PhDs and Postdocs A 12 year research initiative 3
ETH Zurich 1918 Construction site ETH main building Archives ETH Zurich Prime Tower 2009 Construction site Prime Tower 2009 4
Productivity of Labour 160 150 Manufacturing (155.1) 140 130 120 110 100 90 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Average (113.3) Construction Sector (100.7) Index: 1995=100 Labor productivity per hour worked Source: Federal Office for statistics Interdisciplinary collaboration Computational Design and Process Innovation Architecture NCCR Digital Fabrication Material and Constructive Systems Robotic Control and Fabrication NCCR Digital Fabrication 5
NCCR Investigators Philippe Block Structural Design Jonas Buchli Agile Robotics Benjamin Dillenburger Digital Architecture Robert Flatt Building Materials Fabio Gramazio Digital Fabrication Guillaume Habert Sustainability Marco Hutter Robotic Systems Matthias Kohler Digital Fabrication Mark Pauly Computer Graphics Roland Siegwart Autonomous Robotics Roy Smith Distributed Control Olga Sorkine Computer Science Yves Weinand Structural Engineering Joseph Schwarz Structural Design Walter Kaufmann Structural Engineering Melanie Zeilinger Automatic Control Jan Vermant Soft Materials Christophe Girot Landscape Architecture A network of researchers 6
The First Robotic Fabrication Lab in Architecture 2005, The worldwide first robotic fabrication lab at ETH Zurich Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich Methods 7
3D-Printing Small Scale 3D-printer Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich Robotic Fabrication Additive Manufacturing at Building Scale The Programmed Wall, 2006 Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich 8
The Economist, April 2012 The Economist, April 2014 NCCR - Two Grand Challenges On Site Digital Fabrication Bespoke Digital Prefabrication Left: In situ Fabricator test on NEST, Right: Robotic joining of timber plates 9
Grand Challenge 1: On Site Digital Fabrication Rendering of the future In situ Fabricator Collaboration between Agile and Dexterous Robotics Lab and Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication, ETH Zurich Grand Challenge 2: Bespoke Digital Prefabrication Internal view Robotic Fabrication Lab, Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA), ETH Zurich, December 2015 Concept and planning by Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication, ETH Zurich 10
NCCR Research Fabrication-Aware Computational Design of Flexible Surfaces Research objective Interactive fabrication-aware design tool for modelling complex flexible surfaces Research focus Analysis of new class of materials Algorithms for surface rationalisation 11
Automatic Generation of Compression-Only Structures Hollow cube in non-obvious equilibrium Block Research Group, ETH Zurich Multi-Constraint Optimization of Timber Plate Structures Prototype of integral attachment timber plate structure Collaboration between IBOIS Laboratory for Timber Construction and LGG Computer Graphics and Geometry Laboratory, EPFL 12
Robotic Joining of Large-Scale Timber Plates Robotic guided assembly of timber plates Collaboration between IBOIS Laboratory for Timber Construction, EPFL and Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication, ETH Zurich Active Control of Cable-Net Formwork Geometry Cable-net experimental prototype Collaboration between Block Research Group and Automatic Control Laboratory, ETH Zurich 13
Collaborative Robotic Assembly of Lightweight Structures Collaborative robotic control and manipulation Gramazio Kohler Research,, ETH Zurich Autonomous Landscaping Robotic control for large construction machines Robotic Systems Lab,, ETH Zurich 14
NCCR Education MAS Digital Fabrication MAS 2016 Collaborative Thesis Work NCCR Digital Fabrication, ETH Zurich 15
NCCR Demonstrator Empa NEST Konrad Graser, Projektleiter 30.08.2016 NCCR Digital Fabrication 16
Empa NEST NCCR Digital Fabrication NCCR NEST Unit - Construction Concept Light Material Spatial Density Massive Material - Spatial Openness Conceptual overview of the NEST unit, NCCR Digital Fabrication 17
NCCR Digital Fabrication NCCR Digital Fabrication 18
NCCR Digital Fabrication > > > > Developing interdisciplinary knowledge and technology for architecture and construction Education and training for young and advanced researchers Direct technology transfer into building industry and practice Validation of research findings under real world conditions > A leading collaborative research centre for digital fabrication in architecture and construction 19