Slack Pack: Fabrication System for the Dual Robotic Winding of Spatial Fiber Structures

Abstract

AbstractAdvancements in technology are ushering in an era in architecture in which new design methods and tools are being developed that necessitate entirely new means of fabrication, and, inversely, novel innovations in fabrication require completely new ways of designing. Coreless filament winding is a contemporary fabrication method in which fiber reinforced polymers are robotically wound on frames. Even though research on the frame design has reached promising levels of adaptability and material efficiency, these frames limit fabrication flexibility and increase fabrication time and costs. This paper introduces Slack Pack, a novel fiber winding technique for the fabrication of deployable spatial structures. It eliminates the use of frames by introducing slack into the fabrication process through the controlled tensioning and un-tensioning of fibers. Slack Pack employs a cyber-physical fabrication system that combines a generative design workflow and a multi-agent robotic fabrication setup with a custom end effector. The proposed method is evaluated through a series of physical experiments and digital simulations, demonstrating its potential for the fabrication of spatial fiber structures.