Hardwired to build
This cybernetics engineer is laying the groundwork for robust automated systems that will help us construct our future spaces. Her spider-crane robots are already showing how it’s done. By Marc M. Delgado, PhD
D
r. Anja Lauer is on a mission to help the construction industry build better. As the founder of the Department of Construction Robotics at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, she juggles her role as a researcher, professor, and leader of her department, while at the same time creating robots that can assemble building components in construction sites. “Current approaches to automated building do not use the full potential of construction robotics,” says Lauer, who has a doctorate degree in engineering and a masters in cybernetics. That’s why her longterm vision for her department is to design robust robotic construction systems consisting of robots and end-effectors [arm grippers, tools, or sensors attached to robotic arms], building elements and
Spider-crane robots working on the livMatS Biomimetic Shell building project. Credit: Anja Lauer © ICD/ITKE/ IntCDC University of Stuttgart.