A building construction technique using swarms of robotic assemblers and lifting units is being developed by architecture firm Foster and Partners (F&P).
The swarms of robots will be designed to build modular timber structures that can be adapted over time and disassembled on demand. By focusing on timber as a structural material, SWIFT-BUILD (Swarm-based Inverted Fabrication for Timber Buildings) is designed to demonstrate that its automated construction methods are sustainable and low-cost.
Unlike traditional construction techniques, the robotic construction system builds timber structures from the top down by assembling each floor at ground level, then lifting it upward to make room for the next.
A team of coordinated robots handles the work, with ground-based machines assembling and lifting the structure layer by layer, while drones fly overhead to monitor progress and flag any issues in real time. The robots will share information continuously, allowing them to adapt and operate...