Inspiration of effectors -- Response to R04 INTEGRATING ROBOTIC FABRICATION IN THE DESIGN PROCESS

                                                           All images, courtesy of AD

I am totally fascinated by various utilization of robot in different projects. Since my studio work is a skyscraper with intricate forms, I have been thinking about the possibility of utilizing robot to build the final physical model. And the projects in the essay offers valuable insights of effectors that I can use. For the Mesh Towers, the idea of cutting foams by heat-wires with accurate operation of robot is awesome. Probably, the physical model can barely be built totally by hands, whose high requirements of accuracy and building logic can be easily seen from the photos of physical models. And it displays a decent method to generate curvilinear surface with reasonable time and cost. Besides, the Bent Stratifications presents the accuracy that the robot can offer given proper effectors and computing logic, which reminds me the awkwardness in our teamwork projects and possible ways to improve the efficiency and accuracy. First, the feeder must be robots not hands, or, at least, manipulated by robots to ensure the accuracy. No matter what, the material of model must be placed in a space, then picked up by the robot. So, it is quite clever for the designers to generate a linear tail as a tool to ensure the accuracy, which is crucial for the bending process. Then, the robot can do its best to iterate the identical components.