Discrete robotic construction

Robots, which require the integration of a wide variety of mechanical and electrical functionality, are seldom built in a single process, but are instead assembled from parts created using a variety of different processes. While fabrication has advanced significantly to enable the routine fabrication of complex and precise objects from computer designs, the assembly processes used to integrate these parts are still largely manual and are notoriously difficult to automate. Recent research in digital fabrication has looked for ways to avoid assembly altogether by manufacturing integrated devices in a single process but has often struggled to integrate more than a few materials or functionalities. Instead of avoiding assembly, this work embraces it.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Langford, William Kai.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Neil Gershenfeld.

• Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124210

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/124210