From DfMA to DfR: Exploring a Digital and Physical Technological Stack to Enable Digital Timber for SMEs

Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) and Digital Manufacturing (DM), particularly as related to Timber construction, is expensive. DfMA is costly due to the costs related to skill acquisition—Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Building Information Modelling (BIM), knowledge about robotic production etc. Digital Manufacturing is expensive due to the initial capital costs related to digitally able machines and robots. This entails that the segment of the construction sector that is rapidly adopting these technologies to meet the productivity and ecological goals of the Construction Sector is largely restricted to large businesses—large Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) firms. More importantly, it entails that the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are unable/unwilling to participate in the rapidly digitizing economy. This forms the driving motivation to propose a design and fabrication paradigm based on Design for Robofacturing (DfR), a technology stack based on affordable, multiple-use machines. To enable DfR for SMEs, the research follows three main avenues: (1) the design of an easy-to-deploy micro-factory based on industrial robotic arms for timber to produce complex carpentry products; (2) a digital-management software and sensor package; (3) worker training modules and micro-credentialing. The aim is to develop a comprehensive package that brings several advantages of digitalized construction at a lower initial capital interest to SME contractors. Finally, a case study and micro-factory prototype currently being developed is presented and analyzed.  An initial prototype and proof of concept of the research, is currently being developed. The researchers are taking the challenge to create a DfR-enabled digital timber factory on a remote island, to produce in situ a housing complex. The project has the particularity to offer future clients the possibility to modify and customize the design using a digital app, requiring the micro-factory to handle and produce mass-customized, geometry complex parts in a flexible yet controlled process.