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Robotic zip-bending of wood structures with programmable curvature

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Abstract

Standard wood bending approachesrely either on heavy industrial processes optimized for repeatability or on crafting techniques that are mostly intended for the production of small-scale products. Contemporary research focuses on digital fabrication methods to overcome geometrical limitations and automate freeform wood construction without the need for highly specialized craftsmanship. The presented research focuses on robotic zip-bending to achieve custom curved wood elements with structural properties. The technique uses kerfing patterns applied to two layers of planar wood elements to achieve a zipped composite with precomputed bending and twisting behaviour. The article describes the entire workflow from initial material studies to the realization of a robotically-made 1:1 structural installation. The involved methods, such as mechanical testing, geometrical form-finding, structural FEA simulation, CNC robot programming, and 3D scanning, are described with extensive qualitative analysis and quantitative data. The work demonstrates robotic zip-bending’s structural and geometrical capabilities for prospective applications in the construction industry, including suggestions for future research developments.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been partly conducted within the “Experimental Architecture X Robotic Timber Fabrication” at SDU Summer School 2021.

Organized by SDU.CREATE Group - Led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Roberto Naboni.

University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Section for Civil and Architectural Engineering (CAE).

Teaching team: Roberto Naboni, Anja Kunic, Luca Breseghello, Dario Marino, Alessandro Zomparelli, Sandro Sanin, Riccardo La Magna.

Material Partner: Stora Enso.

Students: Aina Radovan, Andreas Nicolai Nielsen, Andrew Smith, Angelina Garipova, Anne Katrine Beyer, Asger Gehrt Pedersen, Aske Skovrup Kiehn, Averina Ayshia Annisa, Cyril Novotný, Guijia Zhao, Ilya Lebedev, Jonathan Vestergaard Nielsen, Juraj Stetiar, Mathilde Lykke Eriksen, Maxime Fouillat, Robin Petersen, Veranika Sidorka, Vojtech Vrtal, Xan Browne.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CREATE Group, Section for Civil and Architectural Engineering, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Roberto Naboni, Anja Kunic, Dario Marino & Hamed Hajikarimian

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  1. Roberto Naboni
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  2. Anja Kunic
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Correspondence to Roberto Naboni.

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Naboni, R., Kunic, A., Marino, D. et al. Robotic zip-bending of wood structures with programmable curvature. Archit. Struct. Constr. 2, 63–82 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44150-022-00030-3

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