Aerial Additive Manufacturing with Multiple Autonomous Robots (2022-09)¶

10.1038/s41586-022-04988-4

Zhang Ketao, Chermprayong Pisak, Xiao Feng, Tzoumanikas Dimos, Dams Barrie, Kay Sebastian, Kocer Basaran, Burns Alec, Orr Lachlan, Choi Christopher, Darekar Durgesh, Li Wenbin, Hirschmann Steven, Soana Valentina, Ngah Shamsiah, Sareh Sina, Choubey Ashutosh, Margheri Laura, Pawar Vijay, Ball Richard, Williams Chris, Shepherd Paul, Leutenegger Stefan, Stuart-Smith Robert, Kovac Mirko
Journal Article - Nature, Vol. 609, Iss. 7928, pp. 709-717

Abstract

Additive manufacturing methods1-4 using static and mobile robots are being developed for both on-site construction5-8 and off-site prefabrication9,10. Here we introduce a method of additive manufacturing, referred to as aerial additive manufacturing (Aerial-AM), that utilizes a team of aerial robots inspired by natural builders11 such as wasps who use collective building methods12,13. We present a scalable multi-robot three-dimensional (3D) printing and path-planning framework that enables robot tasks and population size to be adapted to variations in print geometry throughout a building mission. The multi-robot manufacturing framework allows for autonomous three-dimensional printing under human supervision, real-time assessment of printed geometry and robot behavioural adaptation. To validate autonomous Aerial-AM based on the framework, we develop BuilDrones for depositing materials during flight and ScanDrones for measuring the print quality, and integrate a generic real-time model-predictive-control scheme with the Aerial-AM robots. In addition, we integrate a dynamically self-aligning delta manipulator with the BuilDrone to further improve the manufacturing accuracy to five millimetres for printing geometry with precise trajectory requirements, and develop four cementitious-polymeric composite mixtures suitable for continuous material deposition. We demonstrate proof-of-concept prints including a cylinder 2.05 metres high consisting of 72 layers of a rapid-curing insulation foam material and a cylinder 0.18 metres high consisting of 28 layers of structural pseudoplastic cementitious material, a light-trail virtual print of a dome-like geometry, and multi-robot simulations. Aerial-AM allows manufacturing in-flight and offers future possibilities for building in unbounded, at-height or hard-to-access locations.

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22 References

35 Citations

BibTeX

@article{zhan_cher_xiao_tzou.2022.AAMwMAR,
  author            = "Ketao Zhang and Pisak Chermprayong and Feng Xiao and Dimos Tzoumanikas and Barrie Dams and Sebastian Kay and Basaran Bahadir Kocer and Alec Burns and Lachlan Orr and Christopher Choi and Durgesh Dattatray Darekar and Wenbin Li and Steven Hirschmann and Valentina Soana and Shamsiah Awang Ngah and Sina Sareh and Ashutosh Choubey and Laura Margheri and Vijay M. Pawar and Richard J. Ball and Chris Williams and Paul Shepherd and Stefan Leutenegger and Robert Stuart-Smith and Mirko Kovac",
  title             = "Aerial Additive Manufacturing with Multiple Autonomous Robots",
  doi               = "10.1038/s41586-022-04988-4",
  year              = "2022",
  journal           = "Nature",
  volume            = "609",
  number            = "7928",
  pages             = "709--717",
}

Formatted Citation

IEEE

K. Zhang, “Aerial Additive Manufacturing with Multiple Autonomous Robots”, Nature, vol. 609, no. 7928, pp. 709–717, 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04988-4.

CMOS

Zhang, Ketao, Pisak Chermprayong, Feng Xiao, Dimos Tzoumanikas, Barrie Dams, Sebastian Kay, Basaran Bahadir Kocer, et al.. “Aerial Additive Manufacturing with Multiple Autonomous Robots”. Nature 609, no. 7928 (2022): 709–17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04988-4.