# Mobile Robotic Fabrication at 1:1 scale: the In situ Fabricator

## TL;DR

This paper introduces the In situ Fabricator, a mobile robot designed for on-site construction tasks like assembly and digital fabrication, demonstrating its capabilities through architectural case studies and discussing future development directions.

## Contribution

The paper presents a prototype of a mobile robotic system for full-scale construction, highlighting control, localization, and planning algorithms, and proposing a new robotic actuator for advanced fabrication.

## Key findings

- Successful construction of a full-size brick wall with autonomous repositioning
- Implementation of Mesh Mould concrete process using the robot
- Discussion of limitations and future actuator development

## Abstract

This paper presents the concept of an In situ Fabricator, a mobile robot intended for on-site manufacturing, assembly and digital fabrication. We present an overview of a prototype system, its capabilities, and highlight the importance of high-performance control, estimation and planning algorithms for achieving desired construction goals. Next, we detail on two architectural application scenarios: first, building a full-size undulating brick wall, which required a number of repositioning and autonomous localisation manoeuvres. Second, the Mesh Mould concrete process, which shows that an In situ Fabricator in combination with an innovative digital fabrication tool can be used to enable completely novel building technologies. Subsequently, important limitations and disadvantages of our approach are discussed. Based on that, we identify the need for a new type of robotic actuator, which facilitates the design of novel full-scale construction robots. We provide brief insight into the development of this actuator and conclude the paper with an outlook on the next-generation In situ Fabricator, which is currently under development.