Distributed Fabrication: Cooperative Making with Larger Groups of Smaller Machines

Abstract

The University of Stuttgart's Institute for Computational Design and Construction is pioneering research into fabrication systems that involve multiple mobile robots performing discrete tasks in tandem. PhD candidate Maria Yablonina and founding director Achim Menges set out the benefits of their co‐design strategy where machine, process and object are considered codependently – as demonstrated by their experiments with thread‐like materials.