Smart Architecture-Bots & Industry 4.0 Principles for Architecture

Industrial robots from the automotive industry are being repurposed for use in architecture fabrication research in academic institutions around the globe. They are adapted for a variety of fabrication techniques due to the versatility of their 6-axis arm configuration. Though their physical versatility is an advantage in research, their computational and sensory capabilities are rudimentary and have not evolved significantly in the past forty years of their existence. In the meantime the manufacturing industry has moved on by introducing new forms of manufacturing namely Industry 4.0. In this position paper we look at the characteristics necessary to bring architecture robotics into line with Industry 4.0 standards. By presenting the fabrication process as a relationship model of 'tool-process-outcome' we will examine the way in which these entities and their interrelations might be augmented vis-a-vis Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Social Robotics and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) approaches such as the Tangible User Interface (TUI).