A Bridge Too Far – Complex Modelling

2016

CITA – Centre for IT and Architecture –
Prof. Dr. Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen
KET – UdK Berlin –
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Gengnagel

A Bridge Too Far takes point of departure in the process of robotic incremental sheet metal forming. The research prototypes and tests methods for multi-scale modelling, for the purpose of informing other scales of design with the material implications of this fabrication process, and demonstrates their application to support bi-directional information flows in the design of a panelised, thin skinned metal structure.
This project uses robotic incremental sheet forming to introduce rigidising and connection geometries into a panelised structure. The Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF) method imparts 3D form on a 2D sheet, directly informed by a 3D CAD model. A simple tool, applied from either one or two sides, facilitates mouldless forming by moving over the surface of a sheet to cause localized plastic deformation. In this research we have used a double sided robotic approach that supports forming out of plane in opposing directions.

Images © CITA

PROJECT TEAM

Paul Nicholas,
Esben Clausen Nørgaard,
Mateusz Zwierzycki,
Scott Leinweber,
Riccardo La Magna,
Christoph Hutchinson

Collaborators

HAL Robotics,
SICK Sensor Intelligence Denmark,
KET Konstruktives Entwerfen und Tragwerken,
Udk Berlin,
Bollinger + Grohmann