Author:
Mona Hashemi
Abstract:
Human-Robot Collaborative Design (hereinafter referred to as HRCoD) is an application-based research project that aims to address the gap between users/architects—with a limited technical background and cutting-edge design and fabrication mediums, including adaptive digital design and robotic. Employing new methods of visualization—such as Augmented Reality (AR) andUser-Interface (UI) design, along with real-time robotics and a customized digital design environment, HRCoD develops a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) for designing a modular installation through a hybridized use of robotics and AR as possible mediums for design and making. Using industrial robots in creative/design-oriented applications rather than mass production has attracted a wide range of attention among architects and designers. These new applications make it possible for a wider range of users—with different design and technical backgrounds to integrate robotics in their projects, creative design, or production. When it comes to robotics and computational techniques associated with it, current software and hardware platforms are mainly developed for knowledgeable users with an advanced technical understanding of robotic programming/operating. This exclusivity creates a distance between the technologies mentioned above and users/architects with limited technical skills. HRCoD uses a physical robot arm and virtual reality components to simulate the assembly process physically. The combination of physical robot motion/simulation and the digital design AR interface enables the user/designer to evaluate the process in its actual setup and explore its possible limitations. The novelty of this platform and workflow lies in the real-time collaboration between humans and robots and the utilization of AR as a visualization tool that constantly updates the design process and its outcome. Additionally, and as part of the project’s HMI collaborative nature, HRCoD also aims to propose a decision-making mechanism for the collaborative robot to interactively participate in designing the project’s final outcome by making “informed” design decisions. Using combinatorial logic as the design discipline, HRCoD seeks to integrate the design agendas and assembly analysis into one coherent design framework and enables users with little design background and software skills to interactively engage in the design process with the robotic design and fabrication process. The final platform, evaluated and developed through multiple iterations, represents a fully computational workflow toward a real-time human-robot collaborative design and assembly. This platform’s validity is tested through one of the final iterations of this platform, called HRCoD-Alpha, for designing a modular installation with the most coverage area.