Robotic Workcells: From the Lab to the Field

Multi-robot workcells designed and built from the floor up: specification, integration, safety certification, programming, and the training that let customers, collaborators and researchers run them without me.

Stack

ABB and Universal Robots arms, linear tracks, RobotStudio, PLC and safety controls

Collaborations

Resident teams and industry partners, including Perkins and Will's Building Technology Lab, AI SpaceFactory, Apis Cor, Skanska and Dar

What this covers

What that meant in practice: robots, linear tracks, rotary tables, trunnions, end effectors, fixturing, controls, PLCs and safety systems, all specified and integrated for the work that cell had to do.

Safety and enablement

Risk assessments, safety certification, and training built to get a wide range of people up and running on robotics quickly.

Working with resident teams

A lot of the lab's value was other people's projects. Architecture and engineering teams came in with something they couldn't fabricate any other way, and the job was to get them a cell that could do it, safely, and to teach them to drive it. Perkins and Will's Building Technology Lab used the shop to robotically fabricate a nail laminated timber pavilion. AI SpaceFactory developed the print workflow for MARSHA here before going on to win NASA's 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. Apis Cor worked with Thornton Tomasetti in the shop on 3D-printed concrete walls, testing them against the codes written for concrete masonry.