EPSRC Autonomous Manufacturing Research Grant

UCL Computer Science is contributing to an EPSRC funded research on Aerial Additive Building Manufacturing (Aerial ABM).  The research will develop an aerial robotic construction system that enables aerial robots to 3D print building structures autonomously.

Additive Building Manufacturing (ABM) is already being trialled in many parts of the world by the construction industry. It involves the use of large robots on a building site that extrude building materials to construct buildings, similar to a 3D printer. This process has the advantage of reducing construction times, material and transport costs and easing traffic and environmental impacts. These technologies also have the potential to improve safety in the building industry.

According to the International Labour Organisation, at least 60,000 people are killed every year on construction sites - around one death every 10 minutes. However, current approaches to ABM are all ground-based, only operating in easily accessible locations, where their ability to adapt to diverse site conditions are limited. The research team aims to miniaturise ABM and provide it with aerial capabilities so that it can be more mobile, able to manufacture complex building structures and adapt to diverse site scenarios. This miniaturisation will also enable parallel production, where swarms of aerial printers working together could potentially reduce construction times.

The aerial robots would be able to fly above difficult ground conditions and land at a construction site where they could work together to construct a building from scratch. The research will enable safer construction in hard-to access and dangerous conditions often faced in construction work at-height and post-disaster reconstruction.

Co-investigators Robert Stuart-Smith and Professor Mandayam Srinivasan will lead UCL’s contribution while Imperial College’s Director of the Aerial Robotics Lab, Dr Mirko Kovac is Principle Investigator. The multi-million pound grant involves researchers from a number of institutions including Imperial College London, the University of Bath, University College London and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. Industrial partners on the projects are leaders in construction, robotics and 3D printing and include the BRE Trust, Buro Happold, Cementation Skanska, Dyson Limited and Ultimaker BV.  A podcast announcement on Imperial College’s website provides further information here.

Contact for further details: 

Prof Mandayam A Srinivasan - mandayam.srinivasan@ucl.ac.uk

Robert Stuart-Smith - rss@robertstuart-smith.com

Dr Vijay Pawar - v.pawar@ucl.ac.uk