Human–robot collaboration: a fabrication framework for the sequential design and construction of unplanned spatial structures

Robots in traditional fabrication applications act as passive participants in the process of creation—simply performing a set of predetermined actions to materialize a completed design. We propose a novel bottom-up design framework in which robots are instead given the opportunity to participate centrally within a creative design process. This paper describes how two 6-axis industrial robotic arms were used to cooperatively aggregate a collection of solid spherical units. The branching spatial structure being constructed is unplanned at the outset of this process, and is instead designed in pseudo-realtime during construction. This ‘design-as-you-build’ approach relies on robotic input, in the form of path-planning constraints, in tandem with human evaluation and decision-making. The resulting structure emerges from a human–robot design collaboration operating within the specified physical domain.

传统制造应用中的机器人在创作过程中仅作为被动参与者，仅需执行一系列预设动作，即可将完整设计具象为实体。我们提出了一种全新的自下而上设计框架，使机器人能够深度参与创意设计流程。本文详述了如何利用两台六轴工业机械臂（6-axis industrial robotic arms）协同组装一组实心球形单元。本研究构建的分支空间结构在流程初始阶段并无预设方案，而是在建造过程中以准实时的方式完成设计。这种“边建造边设计”的研究路径，既依赖于以路径规划约束形式呈现的机器人输入，也结合了人类的评估与决策环节。最终生成的结构，源于人类与机器人在指定物理域内开展的协作设计过程。