ROCCO (Robot Construction System for Computer Intergrated Construction)

ROCCO is a Robot Construction System for Computer Intergrated Construction. The consortium under the project name ROCCO developed in framework of an Esprit (EU ESPRIT 3 6450 project) research project a system, which enables fully automated masonry construction on-site. Companies and institutes participated in the EU funded project in an inter-facultative and international approach with experts in the fields of construction technology, mechanical and electrical engineering and information technology from Germany, spain and Belgium. Goal of the project was the development of a computer integrated robot system, which also contains a continuous solution in the ICT for all steps from the architectural design to the automated assembly of the components on the construction site.

The main emphasis of the project lies on the realisation of a mobile robot system for construction site operation as well as on the integration of a computer based system for working preparation and quality control. In the working preparation phase the necessary data is generated for the pre-fabrication and customisation of the masonry blocks, for the construction site layout, and for the automatic robot program generation.

Based on the CAD-representation of the building, first the walls are divided automatically into the necessary blocks. In the next step the optimal working positions of the mobile robot are calculated automatically as well as the positions of the pallets and the arrangement of the blocks on the pallets. With this information the necessary non-standard and standard blocks can be produced and palletised. Finally the robot programs are generated automatically out of the calculated geometry information. The user interface on the construction site is graphically interactive and enables the user to re-program partially the generated robot programs to deal with the imponderability of the construction process without the necessity to learn a specific robot programming language.

Publications:

Andres, Jürgen; Bock, Thomas; Gebhart , Friedrich
First results of the development of the masonry robot system ROCCO, in: Proceedings of the 11th ISARC in Brighton (International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction), S. 87-93, 24.-26. Mai 1994, England, Elesevier, Amsterdam

SCHRAFT, R.D. & VOLZ, H. (1995) Service Roboter, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

BOCK, T. (1996) The Current Status and Key Issues in the Future on Automation and Robotics in Construction in Germany, Division for Automation in Construction; Institute for Machinery in Construction; University of Karlsruhe (TH); Germany

Bock, Thomas, Gebhart, Friedrich
ROCCO- Robot Assembly System for Computer Integrated Construction, An Overview, in: 1.ECPPM (First European Conference on Product and Process Modelling) in the Building Industry, Dresden, 5.-7.10.94

Bock, Thomas; Steffani, H.F.
A Semi Autonomous Vehicle for a Mobile Robot (ROCCO), in: 1.ECPPM (First European Conference on Product and Process Modelling) in the Building Industry, Dresden, 5.-7.10.94