We just released Version 1.6.0 of the BTLxEditor software.

Apart from several minor bug fixes this version includes an updated 3d engine and the support for nested parts.

If you are already a subscriber to BTLx editor you will recieve an email with a link to update your current version.

New to BTLx Editor? Get it here.

Construction on the brick facade for a winery in Greece was successfully completed end of last year. With 225 sqm, this facade is the largest brickwork built with the support of augmented reality technology to date.

This project was realized in cooperation with Gramazio Kohler Research and Timothy Sandy from the Robotic Systems Lab (both ETH Zurich), as well as a team of highly motivated Greek masons. The Augmented Reality Technology applied, allowed the masons to intuitively adopt the complex assembly logic of the brick pattern, which would otherwise exceed human capabilities.

Tobias Bonwetsch will hold a lecture on ‘Robotics and Automation in Architecture and Construction’ at the 9th Swiss ERFA-Tagung.

The annual event is organized by Baustoffe Plus and will be held in St. Gallen. The talk will cover various automation projects realized by ROB Technologies, e.g. Robotic Brickwork and Robotic Timber Construction. And, identify domains in construction where, already today, automation and robotics can provide substantial benefits.

The Sequential Roof project was awarded an honorable mention at the 2018 Prix Lignum.

The Sequential Roof represents a novel timber roof structure, designed in an integrated digital planning process and fabricated completely automated on the WoodFlex 56 multi-functional gantry robot. ROB Technologies supported the project in generating the fabrication and machine code, as well as computing and optimizing the nailing-patterns of the connections between the individual beams that form the trusses.

Within the context of the ROB|ARCH 2018 conference, ROB Technologies, in collaboration with ERNE AG Holzbau and Christian Schmitt, hosted a 3 day workshop on the topic “Large-scale non-standard robotic timber construction.”

Specifically, we explored possibilities to design and robotically fabricate doubly curved wall modules, applying WoodFlex 56 multi-functional gantry robot.

ROB Technologies will be giving a workshop at the Universal Robot engineers conference 2017 in Munich. In the workshop, participants will be introduced to the URStudio software, an off- and online programming environment, allowing to control the robot directly from  data. Thereby, allowing for accurate path planning and easing complex task programming through a unique combination of teaching and manipulating virtual geometries. All without the need to descend into programming machine code.

The housing complex Corte Salvati, conceived by MMZ Architects, was awarded with the Iconic Award 2017 category Architecture. Central element of the complex are two wall reliefs spanning the staircases of the inner courtyards. Developed by design studio 22quadrat this ornamental brick façade reflects impulses of sound frequencies in water, establishing an association to Giacomo Salvati, eponym to the project.

Rob Technologies had the chance to support 22quadrat in their efforts to implement their project, making use of BrickDesign, which was pivotal to digitizing the design idea and developing a concept for execution.

Tobias Bonwetsch will speak at the Wienerberger 'Brick in Architecture' expert panel in Hamburg, Germany.

In his talk entitled 'Towards a New Paradigm of the Automatic', Tobias will discuss recent Robotic Brickwork projects realized in the last couple of years. Specifically, the talk will focus on how the close integration of the robotic assembly process for brickwork within the software BrickDesign can synchronize the design and fabrication process and leverage new potentials for contemporary architecture.

Congratulations to ERNE AG for receiving the prestigious Schweighofer Prize 2017 in the category Innovation for the portal robot WoodFlex 56.

ROB Technologies is proud to support this project with our WoodFlex Software. The software is the heart of the portal robot, encompassing an off- and online control, including, configuration, simulation, collision detection and visualisation of the robotic System.

It operates directly of BTLx input data, the industry standard CAD interchange format for timber construction, framing and carpentry. Thereby, enabling an immediate connection between the shop drawings and the robotic control and eliminating the need to re-programme the machine for every new fabrication task.