This study introduces a novel, hand-drawn language designed to foster human-robot collaboration in wood stereotomy, central to carpentry and joinery professions. Based on skilled carpenters’ line and symbol etchings on timber, this language signifies the location, geometry of woodworking joints, and timber placement within a framework. A proof-of-concept prototype has been developed, integrating object detectors, keypoint regression, and traditional computer vision techniques to interpret this language and enable an extensive repertoire of actions. Empirical data attests to the language’s efficacy, with the successful identification of a specific set of symbols on various wood species’ sawn surfaces, achieving a mean average precision (mAP) exceeding 90%. Concurrently, the system can accurately pinpoint critical positions that facilitate robotic comprehension of carpenter-indicated woodworking joint geometry. The positioning error, approximately 3 pixels, meets industry standards.

The seismic performance assessment of timber structures and topology optimization have been widely researched in recent years. Furthermore, the use of wood as a construction material has increased due to new sustainability challenges. This research assesses the seismic performance of a topologically optimized timber building located in Concepcion, Chile. The structure is a five-story glulam braced frame, designed following current Chilean standards. The structural configuration was obtained through a topology optimization process using a variation of a soft-kill BESO algorithm implemented in MATLAB R2015a, obtaining topologies with low structural redundancy. For the analysis, a full 3D nonlinear model was prepared using OpenSees (Version 3.7.1), and the nonlinear behavior of the structure was only considered at joints using the backbone curves introduced in ASCE 41-13. Six different study cases were analyzed, varying joint strengths and ductility. The fragility curves were determined from a static pushover analysis (SPO) using SPO2FRAG (V1.1), considering the performance levels established in ASCE 41-13. The seismic hazard of the building’s site is estimated through a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), and the seismic performance of each case is determined by computing the probabilities of exceedance of the considered limit states. Analysis results show that wood braced-frame structures with low structural redundancy (and fewer main joints to dissipate energy), such as those obtained from topology optimization algorithms, exhibit a markedly brittle behavior with almost no displacement ductility. This undesirable behavior does not improve by providing more deformation capacity to this structure’s reduced number of main joints. Currently, the Chilean standard for seismic design requires a unique response modification factor R for wood structures. This research suggests that this requirement should be revisited, specifying different R values depending on the wood structure’s redundancy, considering that its displacement ductility comes almost exclusively from the nonlinear deformation capacity of joints.

Scientific knowledge, ideally neutral and impartial, is inevitably shaped by geographical, economic, and cultural contexts. This research contends that overcoming the constraints of human and economic scarcity, inertia, and limited funding access demands development of collaborative research networks. To this end, four university laboratories from Brazil and Chile - UFRJ, UBB, UTFSM and UAI - have united to advance robotics applied to architecture. The methodology begins with an analysis of Industry 4.0, Fab Lab implementations, and robotics in architecture in the region. They identify key research aspects by mapping each laboratory’s activities and technologies to pinpoint expertise and potential collaborative areas. The authors propose a summary table comparing the labs and a chronological overview to track regional robotics advancement. To raise awareness among peers, the initiative involves joint actions such as courses, workshops and technical visits. ¹ Recognising the scarcity of robotic units and the inapplicability of procedures from wealthier contexts, the authors draw on their lab experience to propose guidelines for implementing robotics research units in academia within the region. This includes technological alternatives, installation considerations, and detailed configuration reviews. The deployment of additional robotic units is a means to foster collaboration and bolster the network. Anticipated outcomes encompass increased critical mass, collaborative research initiatives, faculty and student exchange across institutions, higher publication rates, knowledge acquisition, and improved access to global funding agencies. In summary, the Southern Creative Robotics network initiative aims to catalyse the creative integration of digital manufacturing and robotics technology within design in the Ibero-American context.

Robotic timber joinery demands integrated, adaptive methods to compensate for the inherent dimensional variability of wood. We introduce a seamless robotic workflow to enhance the measurement accuracy of the Workpiece Coordinate System (WCS). The approach leverages a Zivid 3D camera mounted in an eye-in-hand configuration on a KUKA industrial robot. The proposed algorithm applies a geometric method that strategically crops the point cloud and fits planes to the workpiece surfaces to define a reference frame, calculate the corresponding transformation between coordinate systems, and measure the cross-section of the workpiece. This enables reliable toolpath generation by dynamically updating WCS and effectively accommodating real-world geometric deviations in timber components. The workflow includes camera-to-robot calibration, point cloud acquisition, robust detection of workpiece features, and precise alignment of the WCS. Experimental validation confirms that the proposed method is efficient and improves milling accuracy. By dynamically identifying the workpiece geometry, the system successfully addresses challenges posed by irregular timber shapes, resulting in higher accuracy for timber joints. This method contributes to advanced manufacturing strategies in robotic timber construction and supports the processing of diverse workpiece geometries, with potential applications in civil engineering for building construction through the precise fabrication of structural timber components.

La construcción de edificaciones residenciales de baja y mediana altura en madera ofrece numerosas ventajas en términos de sostenibilidad. No obstante, su desarrollo en Chile requiere de la aplicación de métodos que optimicen tanto los procesos constructivos como la gestión integrada del proyecto. En función de lo anterior, en esta investigación se realizaron exploraciones para la implementación de una plataforma de producto modular basada en BIM. Se aplicó una metodología basada en Ciencias del Diseño, que permitió entender y definir el problema, para luego aproximarse a una solución que facilitó el modelamiento digital de diseños preexistentes a partir de módulos constituidos por componentes estandarizados. Para esto se usó un software BIM y software de programación paramétrica. El proceso permitió demostrar, en forma preliminar, que la plataforma propuesta puede ser una herramienta eficaz tanto para la optimización de los procesos de Diseño para la Manufactura y Ensamblaje, como para el modelado digital, de edificaciones residenciales de baja y mediana altura en madera.