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Technical University of Munich
Technical University of Munich

Collaborative Construction

CoConstruct (Collaborative Construction), coordinated by Prof. Dr. Christoph Gehlen, explores novel collaboration concepts between humans and machines to improve productivity, resource efficiency, and increase quality in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) domain. A team of researchers from various disciplines, including civil engineering, mechanical engineering, material science, computer science, and architecture, will explore innovative ideas for automating design, planning, and construction using a human-in-the-loop approach. This involves combining human skills - cognitive and sensory abilities - with Machine Learning and robotics techniques.

In the context of design and planning, the CoConstruct approach requires developing novel computational design methods which allow integrating quantitative metrics and the analytic power of computation (such as structural integrity, energy performance, life-cycle assessment, acoustics, and cost estimation) with human synthetic thinking and creativity. In the context of fabrication and construction, the CoConstruct approach will require to leverage advanced perception capabilities and spatial AI to investigate how several robotic units can cooperate and support each other or take on individual assembly tasks in direct and indirect cooperation with humans, and thus allow for novel robotic construction processes to be carried out in turn-taking physical action by human-robot teams. Based on a case-study methodology, the research will develop novel methods which will be experimentally explored and validated based on real-world scenarios.

Our Team

Doctoral theses

  • Lidia Atanasova (Building (with) Human-Robot Teams: A Framework for Human-Robot Cooperative Assembly Processes)
  • Lazlo Bleker (Machine learning-assisted computational structural design)
  • Daoyi Gao (3D Scene Understanding from Retrieval and Object-centric Perspective)
  • Mohammed Olabi (Automated joining technologies for additively manufactured concrete structures)
  • Pia Stanzel-Deffner (Agile Methoden in der Immobilienentwicklung)

Publications

  1. Begum S., Chen, H., Leutenegger, S., and Dörfler, K. 2024. “Mobile robotic brickwork disassembly for material reuse.” Robotic Fabrication in Architecture (ROB|ARCH) 2024 (under review)
  2. Jeannette Kuo. 2024. “Expressions of Assembly.” Heterogeneous Construction. Ed. Yasmin Vobis et al.
  3. Lazlo Bleker, Kam-Ming Mark Tam, Pierluigi D’Acunto. 2024. “Logic-Informed Graph Neural Networks for Structural Form-Finding", Advanced Engineering Informatics. (under review)
  4. X. Du, S. Zhou and A. P. Schoellig, "Hierarchical Task Model Predictive Control for Sequential Mobile Manipulation Tasks," in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 1270-1277, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2023.3342671.
  5. M.R. Kolani, S. Nousias, A. Borrmann (2024): Coordinating robotized construction using advanced robotic simulation: The case of collaborative brick wall assembly, International Workshop on Intelligent Computing in Engineering, under review
  6. M. A. Vega-Torres, A. Braun, A. Borrmann (2024): BIM-based Camera Pose Refinement, International Workshop on Intelligent Computing in Engineering, under review
  7. S. Zhou, S. Papatheodorou, S. Leutenegger, A. P. Schoellig (2024): Control-Barrier-Aided Teleoperation with Visual-Inertial SLAM for Safe MAV Navigation in Complex Environments, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), under review
  8. Cuevas-Garcia C., Pepponi F., and Pfotenhauer S. (2023) Maintaining innovation: How to make sewer robots and innovation policy work in Barcelona. Social Studies of Science. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03063127231207082
  9. Lipp B., Baudrin M., Cuevas-Garcia C., Pepponi F. and Tsui S. (2023) Co-creating end-user roles. Understanding the new variety of user involvement in public sector innovation. Science and Public Policy, 50(1): 146-159.  https://academic.oup.com/spp/article-abstract/50/1/146/6754158?redirectedFrom=fulltext
  10. Dayi Gao, Dávid Rozenberszki, Stefan Leutenegger, Angela Dai. 2023. “DiffCAD: Weakly-Supervised Probabilistic CAD Model Retrieval and Alignment from an RGB Image”. (under review)
  11. A. Heins and A. P. Schoellig, "Keep It Upright: Model Predictive Control for Nonprehensile Object Transportation with Obstacle Avoidance on a Mobile Manipulator," in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 7986-7993, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2023.3324520.
  12. Vega Torres, M.A.; Pfitzner, F., Borrmann, A.: Investigating Robot Dogs for Construction Monitoring: A Comparative Analysis of Specifications and On-site Requirements. Proceedings of the 34th Forum Bauinformatik 2023, 2023
  13. Vega-Torres, M.A.; Braun, A.; Borrmann, A.: BIM-SLAM: Integrating BIM Models in Multi-session SLAM for Lifelong Mapping using 3D LiDAR. Proc. of the 40th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC 2023), 2023
  14. Mohiuddin, R.; Cruz Policroniades, M.; Slepicka, M.; Borrmann, A.: Optical Process Control for extrusion-based Additive Manufacturing methods in construction. Proceedings of the 40th ISARC, 2023
  15. Slepicka, M.; Helou, J.; Borrmann, A.: Real-time data exchange (RTDE) robot control integration for Fabrication Information Modeling. Proceedings of the 40th ISARC, 2023
  16. Pfitzner, F.; Schlenger, J.; Borrmann, A.: Automated Productivity Evaluation of Concreting Works: The Example of Concrete Pillar Production. Proc. of Construction Logistics, Equipment, and Robotics, 2023
  17. Pfitzner, F.; Braun, A.; Borrmann, A.: Object Detection Based Knowledge Graph Creation: Enabling Insight into Construction Processes. Proc. of the ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering 2023, 2023
  18. Lazlo Bleker, Rafael Pastrana, Patrick Ole Ohlbrock, Pierluigi D’Acunto. 2022. “Structural Form-Finding Enhanced by Graph Neural Networks”, Design Modelling Symposium Berlin, pp. 24-35, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-13249-0_3
  19. Mitterberger, D., Atanasova, L., Dörfler, K., Gramazio, F., Kohler, M. 2022 “Tie a knot: human–robot cooperative workflow for assembling wooden structures using rope joints.” Construction Robotics Springer Journals. doi.org/10.1007/s41693-022-00083-2.
  20. Atanasova, L., Saral, B., Krakovska, E., Schmuck, J., Dietrich, S., Furrer, F., Sandy, T., D’Acunto, P., and Dörfler, K. 2022. “Collective AR-Assisted Assembly of Interlocking Structures” Design Modeling Symposium Berlin 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13249-0_15.
  21. Pfitzner F., Braun A., Borrmann A.: Towards data mining on construction sites: Heterogeneous data acquisition and fusion. Proc. of European Conference on Product and Process Modeling 2022, 2022
  22. Cuevas-Garcia C. and O’Donovan C. (2022) Programming engagement: Shaping human-robot-public interaction in a smart city robot competition. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/cgs6a
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