Circular On-site Building with Robotic Assembly Swarms (COBRAS)
Current approaches to construction automation primarily rely on legacy machinery, using single, large-scale machines such as cranes to partially automate traditional construction processes. This project, Circular On-site Building with Robotic Assembly Swarms (COBRAS), proposes a shift away from such legacy machinery to collective robotic construction (CRC) using autonomous mobile robots. By co-designing the robots with the structures they navigate and assemble, as well as the algorithms that control them, COBRAS aims to redefine AEC industry methods, enhancing productivity and circularity while reducing environmental impact. The computational methods developed in COBRAS will enable large groups of mobile robots to autonomously assemble and disassemble lightweight, self-stable space frame structures suitable for infrastructure and building construction. Using a co-design methodology that integrates computational design, structural engineering, robotics, and swarm intelligence, COBRAS will deliver an adaptive, scalable, and circular approach to construction, culminating in a TRL-4 demonstration of a team of robots assembling a space frame structure from prefabricated building elements.
By overcoming the limitations of today’s centralized, material-intensive, and labour-dependent construction processes, COBRAS will demonstrate a new approach for sustainable and productive on-site assembly. The autonomous and reconfigurable nature of the developed CRC system will enable fully reusable building components, low-emission construction using electrically powered robots, and a shift toward safer human roles in collaborative construction environments. Moreover, the co-design methodology establishes a framework for future CRC systems development. Together, these advances establish a new foundation for autonomous construction that redefine how infrastructure and buildings are designed and constructed.
PROJECT TEAM
Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), University of Stuttgart
Dr.-Ing. Samuel Leder (PCoCo), Prof. A. Menges
Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE), University of Stuttgart
Julia Lebedeva, Prof. Dr. Jan Knippers
Reconfigurable Robotics Lab (RRL), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
Alihan Bakir, Ekrem Yüksel, Dr. Yuhao Jiang, Prof. Dr. Jamie Paik
Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory (IRIDIA), Universite Libre de Bruxelles
Dr. Mary Katherine Heinrich, Dr. Marco Dorigo
EXTERNAL LINKS
PROJECT FUNDING
Horizon Europe - EIC Pathfinder Challenge: Towards autonomous robot collectives delivering collaborative tasks in dynamic unstructured construction environments
Contact information
Samuel Leder
Dr.-Ing.Research Group Leader | Distributed Robotic Construction