Totally Mechanized Construction System for High-Rise Buildings (T-UP System)

465 To totally mechanize construction work in building production, particularly through the introduction of robots, construction methods that can be carried out by machines must be developed. In developing new construction methods, the characteristics of construction machinery must be carefully considered, and new machines and materials must be developed. Mechanized construction is most effective in the construction of building superstructures built of large and heavy materials. To maximize the efficiency of mechanized construction, a continuous cycle of transportation and assembly with each type of member must be used to build superstructures. Through repetitions of this cycle, it should be possible to build superstructures quickly and without interruption. To develop mechanized construction systems, the machine systems and material systems to be incorporated must be examined, and the configurations of thebuilding components must be systematized and classified. This report describes the development of T-UP, a new method for robotization of the construction of building superstructures built of large and heavy materials. It also describes some examples of how the T-UP System has been used in superstructure construction. 1. CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTION AND THE COMPONENTS OF CONSTRUCTION METHODS To implement mechanized construction systems, various components must be classified and then incorporated into systems appropriate for them. Both the classification of the components and their incorporation into systems is based on the characteristics of construction production, which are different from those of other types of industries. The three characteristics of construction production that are particularly relevant to the development of mechanized construction systems are as follows: (i) Construction materials are diverse, and are usually heavy, thick, long, and large. (ii) Construction products, (completed buildings) are usually not movable. (iii) Construction products, such as parts of buildings and completed buildings, usually occupy a lot of space. Consequences of (i): • Machinery for transporting and processing construction materials is large and exceptionally heavy, and requires structures that can stably support it. Consequences of (ii):