Humanising robot fingers: Design, prototyping, and validation of an anthropomorphic robot finger with humanoid joint-ligament systems, tendon configurations, and supporting ligaments

Background: Current challenges in the design of anthropomorphic robot fingers is the implementing of anatomically accurate tendon-ligament structures, specifically for the collateral ligaments, volar plates, and the extensor apparatus. The development of robot fingers with these structures could aid in the further understanding of the functional...

Waste and robots: An opportunity for the future of carbon neutral buildings

Waste derived from constructions and demolitions creates an opportunity to lower the carbon footprint of buildings. As bricks and concrete make up two of the most common construction materials world-wide, once the buildings they are built into, reach their end life, a large portion of the waste becomes available for reuse, rich in properties...

From the ground up: Robotic Additive Manufacturing (RAM) of a structurally optimized earthen shell through computational design

When designing for structural performance, the geometry of the load-bearing elements is crucial for achieving the required stability. This is even more important in structural forms, such as shells and arches that are predominantly designed by their structural requirements. However, the typical design process starts with the design by the...

Compliant shape adaptive chicory gripping: for robotic sorting processes

This thesis contains the design process of a compliant shape adaptive chicory gripper for robotic sorting processes. The robotic sorting line consists of an input and output conveyor-belt. The input line contains unsorted chicories which are scanned by a robotic vision system. Overhead FlexPicker robots, equipped with chicory grippers, sort the...

Material Deposition in 3D Space: Additive Manufacturing Enriched by Rotational Motion

Additive manufacturing (AM) is causing a revolution in product design,<br/>manufacturing and distribution. This technology facilitates the production<br/>of complex, customized products without the need of any specific tooling,<br/>thereby enabling products to be delivered at a lower cost than with traditional<br/>manufacturing. From a design...

The construction industry of tomorrow implemented today: An introduction of robotic machines on the construction site for parametric city densification

This project is based around myself (student/young professional) and the need for a quality house after graduating, because the current housing demand of affordable high quality housing does not meet the availability. One cause of this problem is the rather old fashioned construction industry that cannot meet the required amount of housing units...

3D Printing Clay Facade Walls: Integrating Ventilation systems into printing process

Since 3D printing is relatively new in the architecture applications, exploring how it could be integrated with environment-friendly materials as clay could lead to a more sustainable approach for materialising complex building components.<br/>This research is investigating the answer to the research question “What are the printing techniques...