title: RotoForm, Robotic Sequential Casting Toward Material System and Material Programming in Architecture
Creators: name: Mehdizadeh, Samim
Publisher: name: UNSPECIFIED
Year: 2025

description: This dissertation provides a step toward enhancing technology-driven design-to-fabrication procedures in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. More specifically, it contributes to sustainable manufacturing and innovative robotic fabrication methods in concrete construction. 

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries are experiencing a growing need to adapt emerging technologies to increase productivity, promote sustainable construction methods, and integrate automation. Although AEC is part of the production sector, it lags far behind other manufacturing industries in technological innovation. Research on computational design and robotic fabrication has examined the ability to build with emergent technologies and data-driven procedures, showing significant progress not only in technological development but also in the knowledge of its use. However, the implementation of these advances and the transfer of knowledge to the industrial sector remain bottlenecks in this field. This need is especially high given the demand for sustainable construction, the scarcity of construction materials, and the AEC industry's significant contribution to carbon emissions. The effective use of technology in AEC requires research methods that, firstly, conceive the implementation of this technology as an integral research element, and secondly, develop integral models that cover all phases from design to construction.

This dissertation considers knowledge transfer as a methodological challenge and subsequently explores technology implementation and automation in architecture and construction through a systematic investigation methodology. The methodology addresses the disciplinary issue of separation between design and fabrication, as well as the bottleneck of technology implementation in the AEC industries, given the heterogeneous landscape of fragmented enterprises in this field. 

More precisely, it focuses on precast concrete, robotic fabrication, sustainability, and automation. Since concrete is the most widely used material in the construction industry but also the most destructive, it calls for changes in how architects design, fabricate, and maintain buildings with this material. The methodology enables the systematic development of four interrelated case studies, which generate a heterogeneous palette of solutions within different setups and objectives. The case studies are developed and evaluated based on the criteria of design simulation, machinery and robotic fabrication setup, material development, and implementation framework.

The first case study aims to define the boundaries of RotoForm, a robotic fabrication method for dynamically casting hollow concrete elements. RotoForm is a material system that synthesizes a dynamic concrete casting method, the phase-changing state of concrete, and a hyperelastic formwork system into an integral model. 
Following this, Case Studies Two, Three, and Four each address specific challenges in the field of precast concrete. These studies present innovative solutions through technical developments and design-to-fabrication frameworks, all centered around RotoForm. The second case study explores the implementation of RotoForm in collaboration with an industry partner. It targets the development of a robotic fabrication process for large-scale hollow concrete elements as lost formwork. The third case study describes an intersectoral collaboration with a spinoff company in the field of robotic fabrication. The study aims to increase the level of automation through a continuous robotic fabrication setup, from formwork shaping to reinforcement winding to sequential robotic dynamic casting. The fourth case study deals with the challenges of onsite assembly and the need for non-permanency, adaptation, and reconfiguration in architecture. It utilizes the ability of RotoForm for uneven material distribution inside the hollow concrete elements and proposes a material programming system for guided self-assembly. 

This dissertation presents fundamental studies on RotoForm, a novel robotic fabrication framework for the sequential dynamic casting of hollow concrete elements. The case studies offer a systematic approach for studying the implementation of this technology as an integral element of research on innovation in AEC. The work proposes a model that explores the relationships among all aspects of the design-to-fabrication process. The research is the result of interdisciplinary collaboration with other engineering fields for technical development and with industry partners for intersectoral implementation. The emphasis on integrated research has brought fundamental architectural design questions closer to the technical challenges of implementing new technologies, paving the way for solutions that can meet our current sustainability needs.