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Robotic Fabrication Beyond Factory Settings
Full text linkTo fully exploit Digital Fabrication within architecture, robotic fabrication must be expanded in prefabrication, but also fully implemented directly on construction sites. Focus of featured projects is on how to bring robots directly to the construction site and autonomously fabricate structures beyond factory conditions
Smart sensors in asphalt: monitoring key process parameters during and post construction
Full text linkThe Fibre Bragg Gratings (FBG) technology based on integrated photonics, offers specific benefits including thermal mapping, damage detection, shape- and distributed sensing. This makes it useful for determining pavement behaviour during extreme weather conditions e.g. freeze-thaw cycles when harsh winter conditions could damage the asphalt surfacing layer. However, the harsh construction environment and traffic loading highlights the high-risk challenge of installing the sensor into the asphalt layer in a noninvasive manner so that the key parameters are accurately measured during and after construction
Design to Robotic Production for Informed Materialization Processes
Full text linkDesign to Robotic Production (D2RP) establishes links between digital design and production in order to achieve informed materialization at an architectural scale. D2RP research is being discussed under the computation, automation and materialization themes, by reference to customizable digital design means, robotic fabrication setups and informed materialization strategies implemented by the Robotic Building group at Hyperbody, TU Delft
Transition towards DC micro grids: From an AC to a hybrid AC and DC energy infrastructure
Full text linkOur electricity is predominantly powered by alternating current (AC), ever since the War of Currents ended in the favor of Nicola Tesla at the end of the 19th century. However, lots of the appliances we use, such as electronics and lights with light-emitting diode (LED) technology, work internally on direct current (DC) and it is projected that the number of these appliances will increase in the near future. Another contributor to the increase in DC consumption is the ongoing electrification of mobility (Electric Vehicles (EVs)). At the same time, photovoltaics (PV) generate DC voltages, while the most common storage technologies also use DC. In order to integrate all these appliances and technologies to the existing AC grid, there is a need for converters which introduce power losses. By distributing DC power to DC devices instead of converting it to AC first, it is possible to avoid substantial energy losses that occur every time electricity is converted. This situation initiated the concept for the implementation of the DC-Flexhouse project. A prototype DC installation will be developed and tested in one of the buildings of the developing living lab area called the District of Tomorrow (De Wijk van Morgen) which is located in Heerlen, the Netherlands. A neighborhood cooperative (Vrieheide cooperatie) is also part of the consortium in order to address the aspect of social acceptance. Although DC seems to be a promising solution for a more sustainable energy system, the business case is still debatable due to both technology- and market-related challenges. The current energy infrastructure is predominantly based on AC, manufacturers produce devices based on AC standards and people are using many AC products across a long life span. This Smart Energy Buildings & Cities (SEB&C) PDEng project is a contribution to the DC-Flexhouse project. The aim is to analyze the challenges in the transition to DC micro grids, assess the market potential of DC applications in the built environment and develop a framework that leads to a commercial success
From Architectured Materials to the Development of Large-scale Additive Manufacturing
Full text linkArchitectured materials are a rising class of materials that bring new possibilities in terms of functional properties, filling the gaps and pushing the limits of Ashby’s materials performance maps [1]. Capitalizing on the concepts of architectured materials, explorations of the potential applications of large-scale 3D printing techniques to civil engineering structures were recently implemented in the DEMOCRITE project
Spong3d: 3D printed facade system enabling movable fluid heat storage
Full text linkSpong3D is an adaptive 3D printed facade system that integrates multiple functions to optimize thermal performances according to the different environmental conditions throughout the year. The proposed system incorporates air cavities to provide thermal insulation and a movable liquid (water plus additives) to provide heat storage where and whenever needed. The air cavities have various dimensions and are located in the inner part of the system. The movable liquid provides heat storage as it flows through channels located along the outer surfaces of the system (on the indoor and outdoor faces of the façade). Together, the composition of the channels and the cavities form a complex structure, integrating multiple functions into a singular component, which can only be produced by using an Additive Manufacturing (AM; like 3D printing) technology
Materialdesign – An Interdisciplinary Material-based Design Approach
Full text linkThe Institute for Materialdesign (IMD) understands itself as a hub for inspiration – analogue and digital methods are combined - along with an interdisciplinary context - to create cross-material innovations. Ideas are frequently generated through the characteristics of the material itself, its qualities and its possibilities as well as its limits. Through the speculative combination of materials, transferring traditional processes of fabrication into innovative contexts, surprising results are achieved. Experimenting, questioning and researching become ever more important in an interdisciplinary context, especially at art college
Bio based bridge: primary structural elements
Full text linkThe project aims to design, produce and realise a small, but fully bio-based composite pedestrian bridge at the campus of TU/e. So far, few bio-based building projects have been realised world-wide, but they focussed either on non-structural elements or they partially used building materials based on fossil materials.
The application of bio-based materials in the built environment is an extremely promising approach towards a more circular economy and a sustainable environment, which is one of the National Science Agenda’s themes: “Energy and raw materials: Circular economy”. Recent developments have shown that bio-based materials can provide a useful approach for recyclable objects. Until now, fully bio-based primary structural elements have not been used and the applications are limited to experiments with facades components. Building industry clients are generally hesitant to put new technologies into practice without a proof of concept and therefore this pedestrian bridge is a big step forward
Spying the underground: visualizing subsurface utilities’ location uncertainties with fuzzy 3D
Full text linkSpying the Underground refers to the buried utilities that are often hidden from the eyes of citizens and city engineers. Since they are difficult to localize and measure from street level, utility plans are the only models that convey geometry information about them. Nowadays, Augmented Reality (AR) techniques allow us to display three-dimensional (3D) virtual utility models over a surface level camera image. To achieve this, 3D information needs to be added to existing utility models. Therefore, we developed a data model that allows storage of depth and geometry information. Based on this, we developed a fuzzy model that will visualize a fuzzy shape that indicates the uncertainty related to the location of each utility. We developed all this while generating 3D models for subsurface utilities at Oostplein Rotterdam
Public space for refugees: community facilities in the context of permanent temporariness
Full text linkAt this moment in history, a staggering 60 million refugees rely on international help - the highest number of displaced persons ever. A large variety of solutions have been developed that cater for primary needs. However, long-term public and community facilities have been neglected.
This project is addressing the necessity of dignifying community facilities in the context of permanent temporariness in refugee camps. Twelve plans for public buildings are developed, each with a different program. During the coming spring, certain parts of these projects will be built in scale 1:1, as part of the building exercises of the battalion of genie troops.
In order to develop these prototypes, a variety of camp types, public building types and techniques have been researched and analysed. All together these studies have been assembled in a catalogue, intended as a toolbox for designing public buildings for refugees