https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2023/11/autonomous-excavator-constructs-a-six-metre-high-dry-stone-wall.html

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  * Autonomous excavator constructs a six-metre-high dry-stone wall

Autonomous excavator constructs a six-metre-high dry-stone wall

  * Robotics
  * Research

ETH Zurich researchers taught an autonomous excavator to construct
dry stone walls itself using boulders weighing several tonnes and
demolition debris.

22.11.2023 by Michael Walther

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In brief

  * Until today, dry stone wall construction has involved vast
    amounts of manual labour.
  * A multidisciplinary team of ETH Zurich researchers developed a
    method of using an autonomous excavator to construct a dry-stone
    wall that is six metres high and sixty-five metres long.
  * Dry stone walls are resource efficient as they use locally
    sourced materials, such as concrete slabs that are low in
    embodied energy.

ETH Zurich researchers deployed an autonomous excavator, called HEAP,
to build a six metre-high and sixty-five-metre-long dry-stone wall.
The wall is embedded in a digitally planned and autonomously
excavated landscape and park.

The team of researchers included: Gramazio Kohler Research, the
Robotics Systems Lab, Vision for Robotics Lab, and the Chair of
Landscape Architecture. They developed this innovative design
application as part of the National Centre of Competence in Research
for Digital Fabrication (NCCR dfab).

Using sensors, the excavator can autonomously draw a 3D map of the
construction site and localise existing building blocks and stones
for the wall's construction. Specifically designed tools and machine
vision approaches enable the excavator to scan and grab large stones
in its immediate environment. It can also register their approximate
weight as well as their centre of gravity. An algorithm determines
the best position for each stone, and the excavator then conducts the
task itself by placing the stones in the desired location. The
autonomous machine can place 20 to 30 stones in a single consignment
- about as many as one delivery could supply.

Enlarged view: The excavator in front of the built wall.
The Excavator picks and scans each boulder to be placed in the
correct position. Circularity Park in Oberglatt, Eberhard AG.
(Photograph: ETH Zurich / Marc Schneider)

Reference

Johns RL, Wermelinger M, Mascaro R, Jud D, Hurkxkens I, Vasey L, Chli
M, Gramazio F, Kohler M, Hutter M: A framework for robotic excavation
and dry stone construction using on-site materials, Science Robotics,
22 November 2023, DOI: external page10.1126/scirobotics.abp9758
call_made

Further information

  * internal page chevron_right Gramazio Kohler Research Group
  * internal page chevron_right HEAP
  * internal page chevron_right Robotic Embankment Protoype

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