Lecture SAC 
Lauren Vasey: Towards Cyber-physical Systems
Wednesday, May 9th 2018, 7 pm, Aula 

Research in robotic fabrication is poised to transform prototypical production processes and construction systems. In fabrication research, the shift from the utilization of robots engineered for specific tasks towards the use of generic six-axis industrial robots has enabled the development of customizable fabrication processes and robotic control protocols. Further enhancement of physical robotic manufacturing methods with digital monitoring and sensor feedback enables entirely new possibilities for production. Rather than executing predefined apriori control code, robots can be pre-programmed with behaviors to sense, analyze, and act upon their environment. Cyber-physical fabrication thus challenges many existing protocols in production chains: for example, static and notational systems of design representation, such as plans and blue prints, as well as linear production workflows which separate and compartmentalize the stages of design and production.

However, to realize these potentials requires more than an appropriation of existing technology, but rather a re-design and rethinking of characteristic building systems. In this context, technology can be understood as a design driver, and reciprocally design as a driver of technology. In her lecture, Lauren Vasey will discuss these themes in the context of ongoing design and research at the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), including the recent ICD/ITKE Research Pavilions.

Lauren Vasey is a Research Associate and a Doctoral Candidate at the Institute for Computational Design and Construction at The University of Stuttgart. Within the ITECH master’s program at the ICD and ITKE, Lauren teaches computation and robotics seminars, master thesis, and design studios for the ICD/ITKE research pavilions. Her research and projects focus on behavioral and adaptive robotic fabrication: considering in particular how sensor feedback, iterative computation, and robotic behaviors enable new types of production and challenge typical conventions.