AUAR, the pop-up robotic factory startup, has completed its first project – a two-storey building in Belgium.
The project, for Belgian contractor Vandenbussche, was designed as a housing unit, but will be used as an office by the company. The AUAR micro-factory manufactured all structural elements, including walls, floors and roof, as well as internal division walls. The project was conceived in AUAR’s Master Builder software, which generated both the design and the code that guided the robotic system throughout production.
With AUAR’s new micro-factories, the structure can be premanufactured in under eight hours, the startup claims. This can be reduced to less than three hours when three micro-factories work in parallel. The project in Belgium integrated glulam columns and beams, which served as a test to demonstrate how the system could scale to multifamily housing up to six storeys. The project explored adaptable design elements like varied window sizes and placement to test the flexibility of AUAR’s system.
Gilles Retsin, CTO and chief architect at AUAR, said: “This is the first time that a pop-up robotic micro-factory has built an entire project, including walls, floors, roofs, lintels and interior divisions. Until now, homebuilders would have to invest in large facilities and expensive manufacturing lines, but with AUAR’s micro-factories they can do the whole process with a single, compact robotic work cell, a factory in a box.”
Finish on site
Kristof Defruyt, chief executive of Vandebussche, added: “With AUAR’s systems, we can automate the construction process for housing, without having to invest heavily in larger facilities and equipment. We robotically manufacture the core and shell of the building, and finish the building onsite, just as we would normally do with brick and concrete.
“This technology empowers us to deliver sustainable timber housing quickly, affordably, and with reduced time on site, meeting the growing demand for cost-effective housing without sacrificing quality.”
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