Software defined manufacturing and Co-Design Computer-based planning and construction for timber construction

The construction industry is facing major challenges due to the high demand for resources, the shortage of skilled labor, and the steadily increasing demand for affordable housing. Compared to manufacturing and the automotive industry, the construction industry has a low level of automation. However, computer-based design and robotic prefabrication offer great potential to solve these problems in construction. This is especially true for timber construction due to the renewable raw material wood and the possibility of prefabrication. To this end, the Cluster of Excellence IntCDC - Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture is developing a reconfigurable and transportable robotic system for prefabrication in timber construction. The robot system can be reconfigured for specific projects and set up on or near to the construction site.