I like, kind of have a massive crush on architecture robots.  In my spare time I doodle the names of various smoking hot robots in a three-hole punched college-ruled notebook that I store in my TrapperKeeper.  And like, every time I see one (a robot, not a TrapperKeeper) I completely freak out and start hysterically screaming, hyperventilating, and crying.  Picture the reaction of a typical teenage girl as The Beatles were getting off the airplane in 1964.   But to be perfectly clear – I don’t care about robots that are not architecture robots.  For instance, I don’t give a semi-ripe fig about the Transformers or that little robot arm with the sad face that works for GM. 

Image courtesy www.thekathleenshow.typepad.com

Right now are you asking yourself, “just what exactly IS an architecture robot?”  I don’t blame you since I’m pretty sure I just made up the term a few minutes ago.  Here’s a definition, which I present to you wholly unencumbered by any process of thought: architecture robots are autonomous building components that can be computer-controlled.  If you can think of a better definition (and I bet some of you will) please add it to the comment section.  I’d also love to hear about similar projects if you’re working on them.

Image courtesy www.blog.wprb.com

But to return to the main topic of today’s discussion, ShapeShift is ” an experiment in future possibilities of architectural materialization”  conducted by the chair for Computer Aided Architectural Design and students studying at the ETH in Zurich in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA).  To put it bluntly, this illustrious group created an “architecture robot.”  And yeah, I just fainted a tiny bit at the thought.

Image courtesy http://www.caad-eap.blogspot.com/

The group’s experiment centered around their work with an electro-active polymer (EAP), “which is a polymer actuator that converts electrical power into mechanical force. In principle it consists of a thin layer of very elastic acrylic tape sandwiched between two electrodes” (ShapeShift).  The Shape Shifters, as I have come to call them,  took a thin, flexible layer of plastic and attached electrodes to it.  And when they ran a few kilovolts through the assembly, the polymer deformed in two directions.  The attraction of opposing charges caused the film to squeeze and increase in surface area.  Repelling forces between equal charges on both electrodes resulted in a linear expansion of the film, which meant it became thinner. 

Images courtesy http://www.caad-eap.blogspot.com/

If you were to pre-stretch the EAP over a bent but highly flexible laser-cut acrylic supporting frame, and you spread carbon black powder over both sides of the component to transport a high voltage across the EAP, and you coated everything with a thin layer of silicon to insulate the electronically charged material, and then you applied electricity to it, then the EAP would expand and the frame would flatten out (ShapeShift).  And if you spread peanut butter on one slice of bread and jelly on another and put them together, then you’d have lunch.

Image courtesy www.tastyplanner.com

One of my favorite aspects about these components is that when they are connected to each other they create dynamic self-supporting structures that don’t need any bracing or other static structure to hold them up.  The relationship between the pre-streched EAP and its supporting frame is the foundation for the integrity of each component, and each component has an influence on the form and movement of each of its neighbors.  That means that the entire dynamic structure can respond to electrical impulses by changing form, and it portends a highly dynamic future for architecture.  

Image courtesy mddailyrecord.com

Bunting used a 3D printer to fabricate some of the plastic components for the hexapod, which allowed him to incorporate more complicated geometries into his design.  Thin layers of plastic are layered on top of each other by the printer to build up the required pieces.  In addition to shapely plastic legs, the hexapod has an Intel Atom processor for a brain and a Logitech webcam for eyes, which it uses to teach itself to walk each time it is activated.  As the robot experiments with movement, the webcam takes pictures from each position.  The hexapod is programmed to compare specific features in the various images in order to understand how it is moving itself.  Motion in a forward direction is rewarded and reinforced until the hexapod has pieced together enough information about its environment and its own capabilities to start to walk.  If the robot were to be damaged while crossing rough terrain on Mars or during a fight with some vicious alley cats, it would be able to learn how to walk on five legs.  It has an ability to stay balanced and stable in uneven surroundings.  I can imagine a hexapod or two being used under difficult or dangerous circumstances during construction, and I can also imagine an army of hexapods taking over planet Earth and making humans their slaves.

Intel was understandably delighted to find its Atom processor had made a walking spider robot possible, and has asked Bunting to build two hexapod robots for promotions at trade shows and other engineering meetings. The company plans to demo the robot at six events in February and March (Brown). You can follow Matt Bunting and Stewart Christie of Intel on twitter (@blegas78 and @intel_stewart, respectively) to find out more about the hexapod as it continues to develop.  I will leave you with this YouTube video of the robot moving around.  For more video, become a fan of the ARCHITERIALS facebook page, where I’ve provided a link to a documentary produced by Intel in which Bunting explains how the robot was created and what it can do.

UA RNSL Intel Hexapod: 3D Balance Gestures

WU XING:

This robot fits in the Fire and Wood categories because of how it works and the materials out of which it was made.  I think these kinds of robots will have an impact on how we construct buildings in the future.

Cited:

Brown, Pete. “Matt Bunting’s Hexapod Robot Hits the Road.”  Arizona Engineer_online 01/25/10.  Accesse 02/12/10.  URL.

Ross, Otto.  “Student Builds Spider Robot from Spare Parts (w/video).” Associated Press via Physorg.com 02/09/10.  Accessed 02/12/10.  URL.