Prototyping the Future of Local, Cyclic Manufacturing
It is clear that the future of production has to be local and must be built around a circular economy. The Wandering Factory project pushes that goal a step further and relocates production directly to where it is needed, by equipping a robotic arm with an industrial 3D printer and mounting it onto an electric, tracked unmanned rover. Once there, it can autonomously fabricate objects using recycled materials, having adapted individually to the environment and the constraints of the chosen site. The system is the result of a two-month interdisciplinary collaboration among institutions, with the goal of creating a proof-of-concept for the future local fabrication. By using only products that are presently commercially available, brought together in a minimum amount of time, we showcase that the technology to make production mobile, urban, and flexible already exists – it just has to be used.
Photo showing Impressions of the “Wandering Factory – Prototyping the Future of Local, Cyclic Manufacturing” by Johannes Braumann (AT) – Creative Robotics (UfG Linz), Gabriel Gruber (AT) – MHC, Stephan Hölzl (AT) – MHC, Martin Krčma (CZ) – TU Brno, Sebastian Lämmermann (AT) – IPPE (JKU), Bashir Moradibastani (IR) – Creative Robotics (UfG Linz), Martin Reiter (AT) – IPPE (JKU), Martin Schwab (AT) – Creative Robotics (UfG Linz), Karl Singline (AU) – Creative Robotics (UfG Linz), Genevieve Howard (IE) – Creative Robotics (UfG Linz), Darija Pejic (AT) – Creative Robotics (UfG Linz) at the Ars Electronica Festival 2021. Credit: tom mesic
Credits
The project is part of the FabCity Initiative Linz Developed by Creative Robotics (UfG Linz), IPPE (JKU Linz) and the MHC furniture and timber construction cluster Received funding through „Leitinitiative Digitalisierung“ (Land Oberösterreich) and „DigitalWerk“ (BMBWF) Robotics: KUKA Robotics CEE – KUKA KR10R1100-2 robot with KRC5 micro eMobility: Mattro GmbH – Mattro ROVO 2 Extrusion: Noztek Ltd. – Noztek Touch Material: Wood K plus
