The growing presence of robotics in art, research, design, and construction has changed the way we practice and think through our tools. Since 2012, when the first ROB|ARCH conference was held, the role of robotics in creative practices and manufacturing industries has grown, shifted, and evolved. Robots are no longer a shiny novelty restricted to niche research proposals but are now a fundamental technical tool for interfacing between digital and physical worlds. Today, we need new tools to bridge the gap between the creative process and industrial automation specialists so they are enabled to invent novel and efficient products for the AEC sector.
This workshop is targeted at architects who want to integrate Design to Fabrication and Assembly (DfMA) into their workflows. It uses desktop robots to simulate fabrication possibilities and incorporates the digital fabrication world-renowned COMPAS ecosystem of software (COMPAS_RRC) into easy to use steps for architecture firms to begin their journey into using robots to simulate design and fabrication processes into their toolkits. In particular, as we move to meet the higher demand for housing and other building types, architects can take the lead with new digital fabrication tools by understanding and controlling the DfMA process and leveraging it to achieve precision, automated components and prefabrication workflows.
Robotics experts Philippe Fleischmann and Michael Lyrenmann from the ETH Zurich’s ground-breaking NCCR Digital Fabrication initiative have paired up with the emerging robotics lab at Carleton University's School of Architecture led by Professor Sheryl Boyle and graduate student Adonis Lau to host this workshop.
Cost: Regular Registration (includes conference and workshop) = CA$603.23
Location: University of Toronto
Hours for Workshop: 21 hours
Dates for Workshop: May 21 - 23, 2024 (Conference follows May 24, 25 at U of T and TMU).
This hands-on workshop introduces you to COMPAS_RRC and ABB’s GoFa collaborative robot line. COMPAS_RRC is an easy-to-use online control software package for ABB robots including the GoFa family and the various ABB RobotWare software (RW5, RW6 and RW7). You will be led through the complete installation process and be shown a design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) workflow in architecture that connects a design environment (Rhino/Grasshopper) to the robotic fabrication setup. You will work with collaborative robots (GoFa 5kg and 12kg) from ABB Robotics and be introduced to a software ecosystem that links the architecture design-environment via a live communication to robotic fabrication and assembly. This workshop is a must for architecture firms looking to incorporate digital fabrication processes with industrial robots into the AEC sector.
Through small-scale exercises, participants will gain an understanding of basic and advanced COMPAS_RRC functions and investigate the ability to control multiple robots through a single script. By creating a custom instruction, participants will engage with the power of the well-established ABB ecosystem. These exercises will facilitate participants to understand the possibilities of easier collaboration with ABB’s automation specialists. Learnings from this test scale can be readily scaled up to your future full-scale productions.
This workshop will equip participants with the necessary skills to explore the power of industrial robotics and combine those with the freedom of modern python-based software frameworks like COMPAS. Join to unlock your potential with COMPAS_RRC and embark on a journey of discovery and innovation.
CSALT x COMPAS RRC short video
Prerequisites:
Participants should have the ability to:
1. Open Rhino and to draw a basic shape
2. Open Grasshopper and manipulate one parameter of that shape; and
3. Download Python (it’s not necessary to know how to use it).
Workshop hosts will lead participants through some basic ABB software (RobotStudio) and will introduce Compas_RRC, so no prior knowledge of these are necessary.
Click here for more information.