Foster + Partners Wins €4M Robot Grant
Foster + Partners has secured a €4 million European grant for a three-year project to develop autonomous robot swarms for top-down timber construction.
British architecture studio Foster + Partners has won a €4 million research grant to develop a fleet of autonomous robots and drones for building timber structures. The three-year project, named SWIFT-Build, is funded by the European Innovation Council's Pathfinder programme.
According to the studio, the system represents an "inverted robotic construction" method. It builds structures from the top down, starting with robots assembling the uppermost level on the ground.
The SWIFT-Build Consortium
The project is a collaboration between Foster + Partners as the industry partner and a consortium of seven European academic institutions. The partners are the University of Bristol, the University of Southern Denmark, the Technical University of Munich, the University of Pisa, the Delft University of Technology, the University of Birmingham, and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
How the Robotic System Works
The construction process is swarm-based. Ground-based robotic assemblers and lifting units build the structure layer by layer. After assembling the top level, they lift it to create space for the assembly of the level below. Drones monitor progress from above and alert the system to any issues.
Foster + Partners stated that the robots share information continuously. This allows them to adapt and operate safely without constant human oversight.
Senior partner Irene Gallou highlighted the system's potential. "Combining state-of-the-art robotics and integrated AI tools, SWIFT-Build's inverted construction method can adapt to various scales and uses," Gallou said. She noted the project's sustainable agenda, with its focus on timber modular construction, circularity, and flexibility.
Project Outcomes and Demonstration
The research grant runs for three years. A key outcome will be a full-scale demonstration of the autonomous system constructing a timber pavilion. This pavilion will be designed for disassembly, aligning with the project's circularity goals.
The SWIFT-Build project aims to improve the sustainability and efficiency of automated construction. It proposes using robotic swarms for modular timber buildings.
Other robot-related stories recently featured on Dezeen include a centaur-like robot designed to aid humans doing dangerous jobs and a behind-the-scenes look at the company building America's first mail-order servant robot.
The image is by Foster + Partners.
