My doctorial dissertation at ETH Zurich investigates the potential of distributed robotics systems in automating the assembly of timber structures, addressing the challenges of large-scale spatial manipulation and tight-fitting timber joint assembly, which are highly relevant for timber construction.

Leveraging the highly automated process of machining timber parts using automatic joinery machines, I investigate the next knowledge gap in the design-to-production workflow – automatic spatial assembly. Using timber frame structures with integral timber joints as a starting point, I proposed a new fabrication system using Distributed Robotic Tools (DiRT) in collaboration with industrial robotic arms. The crucial breakthrough is to enable multiple robotic tools to operate synchronously while detached from the robot
arm. This enables the system to assemble a wide variety of timber joints and complex structures