{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/113726"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/113726","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Development of an experimental platform for architectural-scale robotics : the Digital Construction Platform","abstract":"This thesis describes the development and refinement of the second prototype of the Digital Construction Platform, or DCP. The DCP is a serial-link micro-macro manipulator robot intended for architectural-scale fabrication tasks, originally conceived of and presented by Keating in [1]. It is envisioned primarily as a platform for experimentation in automated construction, rather than as a closed, single-application system. In the work described here, a second prototype of the DCP -- referred to as the DCP v.2 -- was developed over two distinct periods. During the first period, from September 2015 through August 2016, the DCP v.2 system was assembled and a basic command and control architecture was developed to operate it. A series of experiments were conducted to examine the system's performance, including pose repeatability testing in accordance with the ISO 9283-1998 robot performance characterization standard; and the fabrication of an architectural-scale dome structure from spray polyurethane foam. During the second period, from September 2016 through August 2016, the DCP v.2 system and command/control architecture were modified in a variety of ways to improve performance, reliability, accessibility to new users, and adaptability to new tasks. These modifications included transition to a modular, hard-real-time control architecture; installation of additional sensor systems on the vehicle; and the refinement and standardization of the system's tool-path generation architecture. The impact of this work was demonstrated through a second set of demonstrations, including large-scale light paintings leveraging the new control architecture's capabilities; and re-characterization of the system's ISO 9283 pose repeatability, demonstrating a 59% improvement in this metric.","abstract_html":"This thesis describes the development and refinement of the second prototype of the Digital Construction Platform, or DCP. The DCP is a serial-link micro-macro manipulator robot intended for architectural-scale fabrication tasks, originally conceived of and presented by Keating in [1]. It is envisioned primarily as a platform for experimentation in automated construction, rather than as a closed, single-application system. In the work described here, a second prototype of the DCP -- referred to as the DCP v.2 -- was developed over two distinct periods. During the first period, from September 2015 through August 2016, the DCP v.2 system was assembled and a basic command and control architecture was developed to operate it. A series of experiments were conducted to examine the system&#x27;s performance, including pose repeatability testing in accordance with the ISO 9283-1998 robot performance characterization standard; and the fabrication of an architectural-scale dome structure from spray polyurethane foam. During the second period, from September 2016 through August 2016, the DCP v.2 system and command/control architecture were modified in a variety of ways to improve performance, reliability, accessibility to new users, and adaptability to new tasks. These modifications included transition to a modular, hard-real-time control architecture; installation of additional sensor systems on the vehicle; and the refinement and standardization of the system&#x27;s tool-path generation architecture. The impact of this work was demonstrated through a second set of demonstrations, including large-scale light paintings leveraging the new control architecture&#x27;s capabilities; and re-characterization of the system&#x27;s ISO 9283 pose repeatability, demonstrating a 59% improvement in this metric.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bell, Julian Leland"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Neri Oxman and David L. Trumper."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017","date_published":"2017","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:52Z","subjects":["Mechanical Engineering."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["MIT theses are protected by copyright. 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