Ceramic Forest: Robotic Die-Extrusion Variable Forming for Architectural Ceramics

Extrusion is a well-established industrial production technique for making ceramic clay parts in high-volume, mass-production lines, using an auger to push the clay out from a reservoir through a die profile onto a conveyor belt. While the method enables elaborately profiled extrusions, the extrusion and die allow for no degree of variability across the production of several parts. Ceramic Forest explores how robotic fabrication and clay extrusion techniques can be integrated into a variable production process by mounting an extrusion die and extrusion system on an industrial robot end-of-arm tool. Experiments exploring fabrication parameters including the clay body water content, die geometry, air pressure, and a robot's motion trajectory were conducted, and demonstrated the merits of the approach. The fabrication method is also demonstrated through the production of a series of geometrically distinctive parts that are utilized in a full-scale, assembled, façade screen prototype. A computational design method was also developed for an architectural façade screen that generates design outcomes that align with the research’s established fabrication constraints. Together, these developments demonstrate an approach to die-formed ceramic extrusion and an aligned computational design tool for its use on architectural façade screens.

Vakhshouri, P., Luo, J., Su, S., Tang, H., Wang, B., Faircloth, B., King, N., Stuart-Smith, R. “Ceramic Forest: Robotic Die-Extrusion Variable Forming for Architectural Ceramics” In Crawford, A.,Diniz, N., Beckett, R., Vanucchi, J., Swackhamer, M. (Eds.), ACADIA 2023: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Association of Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA): Habits of the Anthroprocene, IngramSpark, 2023: 381–392.

The paper is available for download on the Cumincad website here.

The Autonomous Manufacturing Lab (AML) explores the integration of robotic manufacturing and construction within architectural design. The AML aims to reduce the environmental and economic costs of design and production while enhancing their cultural and aesthetic impact. The lab's integrative methods for generative design and manufacturing are developed as semi-autonomous systems, exploring possibilities for artisanal-like craftsmanship to be scaled to large production volumes. This approach provides greater specificity and enhanced aesthetic character in design responses compared to traditional automated methods, whilst also reducing material use and waste within bespoke design and production processes. The AML's research enhances design and production capabilities across diverse manufacturing methods and materials by developing industrial and mobile robot fabrication techniques, multi-agent systems, AI/machine learning computational approaches, and applications of real-time sensor and computer vision technologies. This multidisciplinary research includes the development of Aerial Additive Manufacturing, recently published in Nature, which demonstrates the world’s first in-flight additive manufacturing by cooperating drones, representing a rapidly deployable form of collective robotic construction.

University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design
The Weitzman School of Design prepares students to address complex sociocultural and environmental issues through thoughtful inquiry, creative expression, and innovation. As a diverse community of scholars and practitioners, we are committed to advancing the public good–both locally and globally–through art, design, planning, and preservation.

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Ceramic Forest: Robotic Die-Extrusion Variable Forming for Architectural Ceramics

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