Robotics experts at theNew York University(NYU)丹顿工程学院are designing a collective of robots equipped with 3D printers for autonomous and mobile construction.
具体而言，研究人员着眼于与机器人臂结束的3D打印机创建自主系统。雷电竞app下载这些武器将连接到Roving平台上，以进行完全移动。The mobile 3D printers are designed to work in teams, through a concept called collective additive manufacturing (CAM). Using machine learning and AI, the robots can function as a unit with the potential of completing a variety of useful construction jobs, like repairing bridges, tunnels and other civic structures; or even work in ocean depths and disaster zones. The NYU team also claims that it may be possible for the robots to operate in space exploration activities in the future.
The research project is supported by a $1.2 million grant from theNational Science Foundation(NSF), and is taking place at NYU’sCenter for Urban Science and Progress(CUSP). Chen Feng, assistant professor at NYU Tandon’s Department of Civil and Urban Engineering and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, states that
“To unleash the full potential of collective additive manufacturing, several scientific boundaries must be pushed, ensuring optimal deployment of multiple mobile robots that print large structures according to an engineered, virtual design.”
Making collective additive manufacturing viable
The research team, comprising of Chen Feng, Maurizio Porfiri, Ludovic Righetti, and Weihua Jin, is a multidisciplinary group of professors in the Departments of Civil and Urban Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering at NYU. Each member will focus on different areas surrounding autonomy, control, real-time systems and networking, which are considered使凸轮机器人可行至关重要。
The first area centers on ‘Planning and Localization.’ In order for the 3D printing robots to operate together, they must be able to localize according to each of their respective positions, and the structures they are building. It is important that this is achieved without relying on global positioning systems, particularly for extraterrestrial applications, as these are only accurate to a few dozen feet. It is necessary for positional adjustments to be made fast, and accurate to a few millimeters instead. Feng will tackle this particular field, explaining that the goal is providing the robot with accuracy, efficiency, and adaptability to the environment and to real-time conditions.
冯解释说：“机器人必须能够迅速移动到印刷区，观察真实条件（例如不平坦的地面，因为现实世界不是平面 - 然后立即获得赔偿。”“尽管我们希望在结构区域具有更高的准确性，但您离结构的距离越远，您的需求就越少。这将涉及一种新型的主动本地化。”
继续前进，第二个关键领域是“模型预测性控制”。这重点是确保移动基础和操纵器的效率和稳定性足够稳定，以支持可以实时适应环境的快速和高质量的3D打印。示例包括现实情况下的意外变化或不需要的变化，或者在打印机的水泥或其他材料时，在打印机的头部中发生了意外变化。该主题分配给Righetti，他将为每个移动3D打印机开发实时最佳控制算法，从而使其适应环境。雷电竞app下载
“Each robot has to observe what is being printed, autonomously associate it with the project design, and recognize instantly if the printed structure has deviated from it, and by how much, and all the while decide what are the next best actions to ensure proper printing of the structure,” comments Righetti.
3D打印机之间的自主合作雷电竞app下载
最后，研究人员还将专注于“打印和协调”。要求多个移动3D打印机的运动根据要打印的零件的设计进行同步。雷电竞app下载因此，实际不断发展的结构（即3D打印）将充当机器人物理协调的地图。Porfiri将致力于开发一个数学框架，以允许这样的协调水平。该框架将帮助机器人在物理环境中自主计划的行动，在那里他们将能够以更高效率打印3D打印结构。例如，如果机器人继续在火星上完成地球外施工活动，这对于机器人尤其重要，因为不会有足够的远程服务器可以手动协调机器人。
Porfiri adds that “Different from drones flying in formation or autonomous cars keeping distance from each other, our mobile printers leave a unique footprint in the physical environment: the object being printed. My work will leverage this very footprint to establish effective algorithms for coordination and collective printing.”
此外,金将帮助团队的整体effort by helping to develop composite materials that are suitable for mobile 3D concrete printing. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the 3D printer control algorithms, the research team plans to use the newly developed concrete materials with the CAM robots to 3D print a structure at NYU Tandon. The research project will also look to include the efforts of NYU students. Students will be able to participate in an industry workshop on CAM, and an outdoor public exhibition. They will also gain access to an open educational kit on CAM, K-12 desktop-scale CAM competition, and entrepreneurial activities.
Mobile 3D printing
Mobile 3D printing is not a new concept, with various companies and institutions having explored and integrated autonomous, moving robotics with 3D printing capabilities.
For example,Ambots，总部位于阿肯色州的3D打印技术和集会提供商，已经开发了一类移动机器人能够3D打印, which the founders say will initiate a new kind of digital factory. The compact machines incorporate an FDM/FFF 3D printer and four omni wheels, enabling the Ambots to move across the X and Y axes, with two ADNS-9800 laser motion sensors controlled via a wireless connection.
GXN创新, an independent research subsidiary of Danish architecture firm3xn，还探索了如何制作雷电竞app下载3D打印机自动移动. By creating physical and virtual hacks of existing 3D printers and inscribing them with mobility, the group’s research focuses on meeting the global challenges of population growth and climate change, which poses a threat to buildings, infrastructure and cities across the world.
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Featured image shows collective additive manufacturing robots. Image via NYU Tandon.
