Title: Mobile Robotic Fabrication at 1:1 scale: the In situ Fabricator,
Abstract: This paper presents the concept of an In situ Fabricator, a mobile robot
intended for on-site manufacturing, assembly and digital fabrication. We
present an overview of a prototype system, its capabilities, and highlight the
importance of high-performance control, estimation and planning algorithms for
achieving desired construction goals. Next, we detail on two architectural
application scenarios: first, building a full-size undulating brick wall, which
required a number of repositioning and autonomous localisation manoeuvres.
Second, the Mesh Mould concrete process, which shows that an In situ Fabricator
in combination with an innovative digital fabrication tool can be used to
enable completely novel building technologies. Subsequently, important
limitations and disadvantages of our approach are discussed. Based on that, we
identify the need for a new type of robotic actuator, which facilitates the
design of novel full-scale construction robots. We provide brief insight into
the development of this actuator and conclude the paper with an outlook on the
next-generation In situ Fabricator, which is currently under development.