NRI: FND: 3D Concrete Printing with Macro-Micro Robots

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The construction industry is a critical element of the US economy, but construction remains one of the least automated and lowest productivity industries in the world. Much construction activity is low-tech, injury-prone and dependent on semi-skilled labor. Within the industry, the pouring of concrete is a pervasive process. This award supports research in robotic systems for pouring concrete. The research will generate the fundamental knowledge required to design robots which can pour concrete with greater efficiency and precision than current manual methods, while working intimately and safely with human workers. The multidisciplinary research will be conducted by a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students that includes women and underrepresented minority students. The resulting robot systems will be lightweight, widely deployable, low-cost, and inherently safe. Therefore, results from this research will improve work flow, enhance build quality, support workers, and enhance the competitiveness of the US construction industry.The concrete deployment robot system will be based on a new cable-driven macro/micro design, featuring an under-actuated cable robot as the macro unit, with a cable-driven continuum robot, integrated with the concrete delivery hose, as the micro unit. The macro-micro system represents a significant innovation in cable-actuated co-robots. Coordination of the dual system presents new and challenging problems in the control of interconnected dynamical systems subject to differential-algebraic constraints and the research will generate the fundamental knowledge required to solve the associated problems. The need for the robot to safely and robustly assist human coworkers further motivates an innovative data-driven methodology for providing situational awareness of the dynamic construction environment. The focus on dexterous concrete pouring represents a quantum leap for civil engineering in enabling additive 3D printing of concrete structures with enhanced functionalities, and the related fundamental materials research will yield new understanding of the most suitable concrete formulations for robotic deployment.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.