Future Technology
The Swarm
Working day and night quadrocopter robots have proven that it is possible for humans to stand back and let machines get on with hard work of building towers.
I
n an issue where we look at building the world’s tallest tower, it seems only appropriate that we look at the next tallest structure NOT built by human hands. If you’re thinking of the gnarled lumps that termites presumably in their own language (something along the lines of “click, clp, click”) refer to as mountains, then you are probably right. But only just. Because in a warehouse-like art gallery called FRAC, just outside Paris, in December a team of robots built a 6m high tower almost, by themselves. Using small plungers they plucked one brick at a time, carried each to the “building site” and slowly created a wall. It took a few days, but what emerged was a twisting, undulating tower designed by Swiss architects Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler. The robots themselves were designed by ETH Zurich, a Swiss-based technology institute, and boy are they clever. Using some guidelines and blueprints ,the robots were able to pick up the polystyrene pieces of the tower, navigate, avoid airborne collisions and place their load where applicable and move on back to their base. The work was continuous with every robot returning to its charging station when needed before heading back to work. “This,” proclaimed roboticist Raffaello D’Andrea, is the “first installation to be built by flying machines.” Like I said, it was clever stuff. But how does it work? Each ‘quadrocopter’ was fitted with custom electronics and onboard sensors to allow for
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CONSTRUCTION
MIDDLE EAST
February 2012
precision vehicle control, whilst also providing the opportunity for pre-programmed flight paths, which could include arcs and spirals. Furthermore, the fleet management technology helps avoid collisions by taking over when the flying robots get too close to each other. The same technology is also used for automating routine take-offs, landings and vehicle calibration and charging. According to the EHT, the system, uses specific components developed to manage and perform construction. As with The Blueprint is a file that establishes how the structure will be constructed. It holds information such as brick location and the order in which parts should be assembled. A special unit, called The Foreman manages the overall construction process by interpreting the blueprint, issuing build-orders to the Crew, and tracking the construction progress based on their feedback. It is also the means by which the system interfaces to the outside world via a user interface. Using the Foreman, the number of flying vehicles in flight at any one time, as well as the rate (in Bricks Per Hour) can be controlled. Software called The Crew is responsible for interpreting the Foreman’s build-orders and based on these, building the structure. The Crew subsystem manages the flying machines at all levels, including coordinating recharges, planning trajectories with collision avoidance, managing the pick-up and placement of bricks, and generally controlling the in-flight dynamics. The configuration file contains the operational