Aerial Construction: Robotic Fabrication of Tensile Structures with Flying Machines

This thesis investigates the architectural potential of aerial construction using flying robots. Because aerial robots are kinematically decoupled from their environment, they offer distinctly new forms of construction as compared to conventional ground-based construction devices. First, the range of aerial robots is not limited by their size, making them capable of operating at full architectural scale. Second, their ability to move autonomously through and around existing structures makes them ideal for intertwining building material. When these abilities are combined with control algorithms that enable the aerial robots to cooperate and perform construction tasks together, entirely new building forms become possible. Ultimately, the three-dimensional freedom of aerial robots enables them to build structures that conventional machines cannot. This thesis positions aerial robotic construction as a new research topic situated within the traditions of digital fabrication and architecture. The research analyses the specific constraints of aerial robotic construction as a design space, and the specific abilities and constraints of aerial robots as a construction tool that can move freely through the air. The thesis subsequently identifies spatial interweaving of tensile rope structures as an appropriate construction technique for building load-bearing architectural structures, and lays out a methodological framework for designing and constructing airborne tensile structures using quadrocopters. A series of building experiments validate the developed techniques and describe a coherent design and construction process. Ultimately this research brings forward a new perspective on the spatial aggregation of material using robotic processes, and on digitally fabricated architecture as a whole.