YouWasps: Towards Autonomous Multi-Robot Mobile Deposition for Construction

Mobile multi-robot construction systems offer new ways to optimise the on-site construction process. In this paper we begin to investigate the functionality requirements for controlling a team of robots to build structures much greater than their individual workspace. To achieve these aims, we present a mobile extruder robot called YouWasp. We also begin to explore methods for collision aware printing and construction task decomposition and allocation. These are deployed via YouWasp and enable it to deposit material autonomously. In doing so, we are able to evaluate the potential for parallelization of tasks and printing autonomy in simulation as well as physical team of robots. Altogether, these results provide a foundation for future work that enable fleets of mobile construction systems to cooperate and help us shape our built environment in new ways.

Sustarevas, J., Benjamin Tan, K. X., Gerber, D., Stuart-Smith, R., & Pawar, V. M. YouWasps: Towards Autonomous Multi-Robot Mobile Deposition for Construction. In IEEE Staff (Ed.), IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2019: 2320–2327. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS40897.2019.8967766

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
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YouWasps: Towards Autonomous Multi-Robot Mobile Deposition for Construction

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