Skip to main content

At the Crossroads of Architecture and Robotics: Control and Structural Concepts for a Reconfigurable Building

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Advances in Robot Design and Intelligent Control (RAAD 2016)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 540))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 2196 Accesses

Abstract

A new generation of reconfigurable buildings will be able to provide certain advantages over traditional structures and create new architectural perspectives. One concept that has been proposed comprises a parallel arrangement of planar n–bar linkages to create the skeleton structure of a building. Reconfigurations of the individual planar mechanisms define the overall shape of the building. For this purpose a systematic procedure has been developed called “effective four-bar” method which is reviewed. The basic idea of this concept is to strategically lock \(n-4\) joints of the individual n–bar linkages so to effectively leave four-bar linkages each with 1 degree of freedom. The latter can be actuated, and thus the shape of the building changed by means of a single actuator. Two different actuation methods are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Adam, B., Smith, I.: Active tensegrity: A control framework for an adaptive civil-engineering structure. Comput. Struct. 86(23–24), 2215–2223 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Christoforou, E.G., Müller, A., Phocas, M.C.: Motion planning for shape-controlled adaptable buildings resembling topologically closed-loop robotic systems. In: 36th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference (MECH), ASME 2012 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences, Chicago, IL (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Christoforou, E.G., Müller, A., Phocas, M.C., Matheou, M., Arnos, S.: Towards realization of shape-controlled adaptable buildings following a robotics approach. In: 37th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference (MECH), ASME 2013 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences, Portland, OR (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Christoforou, E.G., Müller, A., Phocas, M.C., Matheou, M., Arnos, S.: Design and control concept for reconfigurable buildings. ASME J. Mech. Design 137(4), 042302–042302-8 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gantes, C.: Deployable Structures: Analysis and Design. WIT Press, Southampton (2001)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. Hanaor, A.: Theory and application. In: Gabriel, J.F. (ed.) Beyond the Cube. John Wiley & Sons (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Pellegrino, S.: Deployable Structures. International Center for Mechanical Sciences, vol. 412. Springer, Heidelberg (2001). CISM courses and lectures

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  8. Phocas, M.C., Christoforou, E.G., Matheou, M.: Design, motion planning and control of a reconfigurable hybrid structure. Eng. Struct. 101, 376–385 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Tibert, G.: Deployable Tensegrity Structures for Space Applications. Ph.D. Thesis, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (2002)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This work has been partially supported by the Austrian COMET-K2 program of the Linz Center of Mechatronics (LCM).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Matheou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Cite this paper

Matheou, M., Phocas, M.C., Müller, A., Christoforou, E.G. (2017). At the Crossroads of Architecture and Robotics: Control and Structural Concepts for a Reconfigurable Building. In: Rodić, A., Borangiu, T. (eds) Advances in Robot Design and Intelligent Control. RAAD 2016. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 540. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49058-8_63

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49058-8_63

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49057-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49058-8

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics