Cobotic Matters – Collaborative Robots and Discrete Assembly Design: From Stacking to Self-Interlocking of Reciprocal Components

Abstract

This paper presents a set of design-to-robotic assembly workflows developed based on the potential of working with collaborative robots. The research presents three assembly systems benefiting from several features of a seven-axis cobotic arm. The proposed methods are advanced as an integral part of an interdisciplinary project-based course entitled Cobotic Matters. The interdepartmental research builds upon the premise that human-robot collaboration, programable fabrication, and assembly technologies will fundamentally change how we design and build. Each case study explores different strategies for designing the assembly sequence of discrete elements and the growth direction of the structure. The presented methods cover a range of assembly approaches, including vertical stacking of cuboid wooden pieces, interlocking of unique prefabricated elements, and oblique growth of bespoke reciprocal components in multiple directions. In each case study, a specific assembly method is developed, and all three projects address the role of implementing cobotic systems in integrated computational design to robotic assembly workflows.