Gramazio Kohler Research
News
Teaching
Research
Projects
Publications
About
Team
Open Positions
Contact
Compas XR
Compas FAB
Compas cadwork
Impact Printing
Compas Timber
AIXD: AI-eXtended Design
AI-Augmented Architectural Design
Integrated 3D Printed Facade
undefined
Think Earth SP7
Robotic Plaster Spraying
Additive Manufactured Facade
Human-Machine Collaboration
Timber Assembly with Distributed Architectural Robotics
Eggshell Benches
Eggshell
AR Timber Assemblies
CantiBox
Autonomous Dry Stone
RIBB3D
Data Driven Acoustic Design
Mesh Mould Prefabrication
Architectural Design with Conditional Autoencoders
Data Science Enabled Acoustic Design
Thin Folded Concrete Structures
FrameForm
Adaptive Detailing
Deep Timber
Robotic Fabrication Simulation for Spatial Structures
Jammed Architectural Structures
RobotSculptor
Digital Ceramics
On-site Robotic Construction
Mesh Mould Metal
Smart Dynamic Casting and Prefabrication
Spatial Timber Assemblies
Robotic Lightweight Structures
Mesh Mould and In situ Fabricator
Complex Timber Structures
Spatial Wire Cutting
Robotic Integral Attachment
Mobile Robotic Tiling
YOUR Software Environment
Aerial Construction
Smart Dynamic Casting
Topology Optimization
Mesh Mould
Acoustic Bricks
TailorCrete
BrickDesign
Echord
FlexBrick
Additive processes
Room acoustics


Mesh Mould and In situ Fabricator, 2016-2017
in the DFAB HOUSE
The in situ fabrication of a doubly curved reinforced concrete wall featuring the Mesh Mould technology realises the first innovation object of the Empa NEST DFAB HOUSE. The S-shaped slender wall in the ground floor of the living unit follows the structural principle to increase stiffness through local undulations of the surface geometry. The freeform reinforcement cage is fabricated by the mobile construction robot IF through continuously bending and welding 6mm rebar in vertical layers. The onboard sensing and computation system of the robot allows to construct the mesh without any external measurement devices. It orients itself relative to the foundation of the wall, which is installed prior to the robotic construction and equipped with markers and tags. A camera on the end effector measures the tags for localizing the robot, and two more cameras monitor the accurate fabrication of the mesh.The concreting of the wall consists of first filling the mesh with a custom developed concrete mix and then finishing the surface with a layer of shotcrete.

The research and building project is pursued in the framework of the National Competence Centre of Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication.

See as well:
Mesh Mould
Mesh Mould Metal
DFAB HOUSE

Credits:
Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich

Collaborators: Norman Hack (project lead Mesh Mould), Kathrin Dörfler (project lead In situ Fabricator), Dr. Nitish Kumar, Alexander Nikolas Walzer, Manuel Lussi, Maximilian Seiferlein, Dr. Jaime Mata Falcon, Julio Alonso Lopez, Dr. Tim Wangler, Lukas Stadelmann, Lex Reiter, Hannes Heller, Michael Lyrenmann, Heinz Richner, Philippe Fleischmann, Andreas Reusser
Selected experts: Agile & Dexterous Robotics Lab (Prof. Dr. Jonas Buchli),
Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems, ETH Zurich
Physical Chemistry of Building Materials group (Prof. Dr. Robert J. Flatt),
Institute for Building Materials, ETH Zurich
Concrete Structures and Bridge Design (Prof. Dr. Walter Kaufmann)
Institute of Structural Engineering, ETH Zurich
Industry partner: Sika Technology AG, NOE-Schaltechnik GmbH, Schlatter Industries AG

Copyright 2024, Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Gramazio Kohler Research
Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication
ETH Zürich HIB E 43
Stefano-Franscini Platz 1 / CH-8093 Zurich

+41 44 633 49 06
Follow us on:
Vimeo | Instagram