Robotic Control Strategies Applicable to Architectural Design

While research in robotic control has produced numerous inventions and extensions of human ability, industrial robotic arms have had the largest effect within the architectural and design fields. At this point, the development of custom end effectors for industrial robot arms are the most frequent ways to research and create new forms. This paper discusses the most common robots within robotic control research and relates them to the architectural discourse. As shown, the uses for compliant robots in architecture go far beyond human worker safety. The paper concludes with a proposed classification of robotic architectural research; where the use of robots as a tool is distinct from the ability to create new designs through unique control methods.