CRAFT

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CRAFT Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication
Technologies
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CRAFT - Vision and Goals
To develop the science and engineering needed for
rapid automated fabrication of structures of
various scales, up to very large objects such as
buildings. The goal is a major breakthrough in
Mega-Scale fabrication.
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Grand Challenge

• Building a custom-designed house in a day while
  radically reducing the costs, injuries, waste and
  environmental impact associated with traditional
  construction techniques.
• affordable housing for the 30 million U.S.
  households facing cost burdens or overcrowding
• emergency housing for the 37 million/year victims
  of natural (and/or man-made) disasters
• new styles of housing based on curved rather than
  straight surfaces
• extraterrestrial buildings constructed from in
  situ materials
• With national construction-related expenditures
  currently totaling close to 1 trillion annually,
  the potential impact is enormous.
• The goal a revolution in housing construction

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Grand Challenge a house in a day
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Development Phases
2005
2006
2008
2009
2010
Modular
Components
and Assembly
Software
Systems
Integrated
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Interrelationships among the three research
thrusts
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Extrudable materials fabrication

• Perform underlying basic research necessary to
  develop the materials and structures for
  automated mega-scale fabrication
• Integrate materials into ultra-efficient
  structures
• Integrate materials with delivery systems and
  robots from other thrusts

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Materials to Structures
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Faculty
Steve Nutt Materials Science USC
Mike Kassner Aerospace and Mechanical USC
Julian Domaradzki Aerospace and Mechanical USC
Henryk Flashner Aerospace and Mechanical USC
Yan Xiao Civil and Environmental USC
Behrokh Khoshnevis Industrial and Systems USC
George Bekey Computer Science USC
Peter Will ISI USC
Neil Gershenfeld Media Arts and Sciences MIT
Larry Sass Architecture MIT
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Robotics fab, modular components assembly

• Perform research and develop various mono and
  distributed robots, tools, software and their
  integration into systems for assembling modules
  in situ to form functional attributes of
  structures
• Robots locations, movements and working areas
  are dynamically changing along with environment.
  Develop a mathematical / geometric model of
  environment and a robot coordination protocol.
• Perform the fundamental research in the modules
  to be placed internal to the extruded material
  that transform an extrusion into a functional
  wall or roof of a mega-scale structure. The
  modules that make a post-modern interactive
  structure include
• normal reinforcing, plumbing, and electricity
  conduits
• Integrated communication, interactive sensing and
  displays
• Integrate the Modules and Assembly Thrust with
  Extruded Materials and Software

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Modules and Assemblies
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Embedding IT components
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Automated Painting
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Dynamic Control
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Faculty
George Bekey Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering USC
Peter Will ISI, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Materials Science, Astronautics USC
Phillip Dunston Civil Engineering Purdue
Henryk Flashner Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering USC
Neil Gershenfeld Center for Bits and Atoms MIT
Sami Masri Civil Engineering USC
Maja Mataric Computer Science USC
Gerard Medioni Computer Science USC
Shimon Nof Industrial Science Purdue
Miroslaw Skibniewski Civil engineering Purdue
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Goals

• Perform the fundamental research and develop the
  software components for automating mega-scale
  fabrication
• Integrate components with each other and with
  robots from other thrusts

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Faculty
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Four Classes of Software
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Industrial Sectors

• Materials
• Construction
• Equipment
• Software
• Architects
• Real Estate
• Other application sectors

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Industrial Membership

• Industrial membership 3 tiers
• Senior Member - 100,000
• Regular Member - 20,000 to 50,000
• Technology Associate small business
• Benefits to Industry
• Seat on CRAFT ERC industrial advisory board
  Senior Member
• Licensing (Senior Member exclusive)
• Focused research projects
• Access to cutting edge research
• Access to center facilities and expertise for RD
  projects
• Contact with graduate students
• Industry-University exchange program
• SBIR and STTR partnerships
• Industry-University Company Day Senior Member

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Expressions of Support

• Materials
• Degussa Corporation (committed)
• Maxit Group (committed)
• CEMEX
• Elotex
• ECRA (European Cement Research Academy)
• VDZ (German Concrete Research Academy)
• Equipment
• Siemens
• John Deere
• Parker-Hannifan

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Expressions of Support

• Construction
• Shea Homes
• Parsons
• Shimizu
• Bechtel
• Boeing (space)
• Government
• NASA (committed)
• U.S. Army

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Expressions of Support

• Architects
• GL Forms (Greg Lynn)
• Gehry Technologies
• Cal-Earth
• Real Estate
• ConAm (builds low income housing in Mexico)
• Regency Outdoor Advertising

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Management Plan
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• Thank you
• please visit
• www.ContourCrafting.org