DEPTH MODULATIONS

Today’s industry provides many ways of producing highly complex but mass-produced building modules. With precise control, the differentiation potential of such pieces can be utilized in the production of highly articulated architectural elements.

TYPE

MODE

STATUS

YEAR

PLACE

SIZE

MATERIALS

SOFTWARE

SETUP

ROLE

COLLABORATORS

STUDENTS INSTALLATION

STUDENTS PROTOTYPING

SPONSORS

DESCRIPTION

Four wall panels, robotic process with integrated pre-fabrication and additive assembly

Research and teaching project done at Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zürich

Built

2014

ETH, Zürich, Switzerland

2.5 m x 1.4 m

PVC tubes with acryl inserts, connected together with hot melt adhesive

Rhino, Python, Grasshopper

Kuka KR 150 L110 on linear track, Universal Robots UR5 for the prototyping

Teaching lead

Max Vomhof, Lauren Vasey (fabrication lead)

Pierre Chevremont, Maged Elsadek, Andreas Häni, Mathias Gfeller, Clemens Klein, Romain Kündig, Thierry Raess, Andreas Thoma, Maja Zeller

Stanislas Chaillou, Pierre Chevremont, Dzenis Dzihic, Maged Elsadek, Mathias Gfeller, Aniruddh Jain, Clemens Klein, Romain Kündig, Wai Loo, Thierry Raess, Andreas Thoma, Ramon Weber, Maja Zeller

REHAU Vertriebs AG

Depth Modulations project explored the robotic assembly of acoustically performative surfaces. Starting with strategies for robotically aggregating a generic, mass produced but highly articulated basic element, the students iterated designs through a digital production workflow utilizing industrial robotic arms. Their projects, developed through the production of scaled prototypes, enabled deeper evaluation and comparison of the different design implications and allowed the systematized control and manipulation of acoustic and aesthetic properties. The focus of the adjoining elective thesis workshop was deepening of the design concepts developed during the elective course and their implementation in 1:1 scale. Each of the four panel prototypes were composed out of 500 robotically cut and placed PVC tubes with a diameter of 70 mm which was determined according to the acoustic efficiency of the diffuse scattering of sound waves in the human voice range. To achieve the necessary air-tightness of the panels, the individual tubes were additionally internally sealed with individually positioned acrylic lids. The clearly noticeable influence of the prototypical panels on the room acoustics could then be successfully verified in the laboratory of Jürgen Strauss.