The next generation of buildings could be created by wall-crawling robots.

That’s the view of robotics researcher Maria Yablonina, a graduate of the University of Stuttgart who has unveiled a way of using robot builders to create complex structures quickly, cheaply and efficiently.

Yablonina’s project, Mobile Robotic Fabrication System for Filament Structures, has been developed with the university's Institute for Computational Design (ICD).

Semi-autonomous wall climbing robots are programmed to distribute fibre filaments on any horizontal or vertical surface, or even existing architecture, to support the structures. Robot pairs pass fibre threads back and forth, attaching them to anchor points in the surface to weave a pattern.

Unlike bigger industrial robots that are limited by reach, the wall crawlers are small and feature sensors that allow them to travel and interact accurately along walls, roofs and ceilings. The result, according to Yabloinina, is the potential for vast urban and interior environments to become fabrication sites. The more robots used, the bigger the potential structure they create.

“One can imagine a fabrication process where an operator arrives to the scene with a suitcase housing all the necessary robots and materials to create a large structure,” she said. “These agile mobile robotic systems move robotic fabrication processes beyond the constraints of the production hall.”

The ICD is doing some pioneering work in the fields of robotics and architecture. With the help of robots, it has built pavilions inspired by spider nests, sea urchin shells and beetle wings.

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