Visual Programming for Robot Control: Technology Transfer Between AEC and Industry

For a long time, the construction sector has been considered a field with a low degree of digitization and automation with architects and designers looking for inspiration in other industries. Today, the construction sector is steadily innovating and automating, prompted by the lack of skilled labor. While robots are gradually starting to be used in situ for construction, robotic arms−also referred to as industrial robots−have already created new ways for the creative industries to develop innovative machinic processes at 1:1 scale. As the field of architecture eagerly moved towards robotics with an open mindset and little existing infrastructure or established protocols, architects and designers were quick to adapt the key themes of Industry 4.0 for their purposes. A core enabling factor has been the field’s expertise in advanced, geometry-focused visual programming tools, which have since been adapted for robotic fabrication in order to enable individualized fabrication processes and mass customization. This chapter explores this development through several case studies and provides an outlook how visual programming and robotics may lead to a more sustainable, local, decentralized, and innovative post-industrial manufacturing in the creative industries and beyond.