Reclaiming Construction Waste: An interface for robotic stacking of irregular components in compression-only structures
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Date
2020-10-22
Authors
Karami, Nima
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Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
Construction and demolition activities generate approximately one billion tons of waste every year in the world. While the majority of these materials can be either reused or recycled, they are often disposed of in landfills which leads to long-term environmental issues. This thesis investigates the reuse of construction and demolition waste through robotic stacking of irregular components in compression-only structures. Previous works have emphasized the environmental and economic benefits of using as-found materials, however, the practicality of this strategy has remained low due to increased complexity of non-standard waste components and their assembly systems. This research attempts to tackle this issue by employing an adaptive and automated stacking workflow. A mechanism is designed with off-the-shelf technologies to enable a six-axis collaborative robot with perception, real-time physics simulation, and motion planning. Two compression-only structures, a column and a wall, are digitally prototyped to assess the efficiency and usability of the interface. Reclaiming waste materials through an adaptive fabrication process can benefit the construction industry by minimizing residue, reducing costs, and decreasing the environmental footprint of buildings. Moreover, this interface can be used to build durable disaster relief shelters and enable construction during expeditions to inaccessible locations.
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Keywords
robotic fabrication, material reclamation, computational design, adaptive assembly, construction and demolition waste, waste management, sustainable architecture, waste reuse