Automated on-site assembly of timber buildings on the example of a biomimetic shell

Abstract

Automating on-site assembly benefits quality and productivity, reduces physical strain on workers, and counteracts construction worker shortages. This paper develops a concept for automated on-site assembly of high-payload real-scale form-fit timber components and demonstrates the automated process on a real construction site. All methods are explained from the development of two large-scale on-site assembly manipulators and end-effectors for picking up, transporting, placing and connecting components to automated data extraction of the BIM model, path planning, trajectory generation, feedback control, and practical tests with robotic total station measurements. The on-site assembly process is semi-automated, which demonstrates its feasibility. A comparison to a simulated benchmark that exploits all speed limits shows the automation potential. Positioning error sources and approaches for error compensation and avoidance are discussed for future work.