RFL

Robotic Fabrication Laboratory , 2010-2016

Research laboratory for large-scale robotic fabrication

The Robotic Fabrication Laboratory (RFL) is set up as a worldwide unique digital construction environment that allows for internationally leading research in the field of robotic fabrication in architecture and construction. The RFL - initiated by the Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication - is as an integral part of the new Arch_Tec_Lab-building for the Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA), located on the Hoenggerberg Campus of ETH Zurich. The RFL will be fully operational from October 2016 on. 

The RFL is a multi-robotic system based on an overhead running gantry system covering the complete workshop space of the ITA building. Thus, a total of four six-axis robots can cooperatively work on a maximum volume of 43 by 16 by 8 meters. The RFL’s flexible and extendable configuration allows for a broad scope of different architectural design and construction experiments at full scale. The RFL will also enable to simulate robotic fabrication and human-machine cooperation on-site, as well as advanced automated factory-based digital fabrication processes. Apart from the core research in the field of architecture, the RFL is set up as a platform open to other disciplines, providing the means to conduct numerous research projects that are dependent on digital controlled spatial applications.