From Technology to Strategy: Robotic Fabrication and Human Robot Collaboration for Increasing AEC Capacities

This position paper unpacks the relationship between intangible pre- and post-production and tangible production processes under an Industry 4.0 framework for architecture and design to mitigate the Architecture Engineering Construction (AEC) sectors’ contribution to climate change and investigate potentials for SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure). As Industry 4.0 is describing a business model or strategy foremost that utilises and incorporates technology via a cyber-physical system, we investigate how robotic technologies and human robot collaboration can enable methods, frameworks, and systems for the AEC sector; and what opportunities and challenges outside the tangible production floor can be considered to tie in architecture and construction. By reviewing state-of-the-art tangible production processes, robotic fabrication, and robotic interfaces, we aim to outline potential research domains in intangible pre-and post-production towards Next Gen Architectural Manufacturing. We conclude with objectives for reducing architecture’s resources appetite using computation and modern manufacturing strategies and a strategic framework to enable this in the AEC sector. This investigation, its proposed hypothesis, methodology, implications, significance, and evaluation are presented in this chapter.