RObotics & Additive Manufacturing in Built Environment for off-site Manufacturing of homes (ROAMBEM)

"The challenge of meeting house building targets in the UK presents major opportunities for new methods of construction such as off-site manufacturing for home construction. This will use smart robotics, additive manufacturing and sensor technologies that optimise the manufacturing process.

Outside the UK off-site manufacturing of home building (or pre-fabrication) is a widely accepted method of house building with global sales expected to exceed 1.1 million units in the current year. Unfortunately, it is not a widely accepted method in the UK for historical reasons. Currently, the fashion-talk is to build low-cost 3D printed homes but to date no one has taken the jump from conceptual house printing to printing an attractive functional building that people want to live in. Additionally, it is not clear that 3D printing can make that move in an economical way.

ROAMBEM has identified an approach which takes the best from traditional construction methods, robotics and additive manufacturing to develop an intelligent autonomous off-site manufacturing process for the construction of house building. The process will lead to a safer working environment, reduced labour costs and productivity gains

ROAMBEM is a feasibility study with key innovations that seeks to a) identify new materials suitable for additive manufacturing, that will improve current U-values of thermal Insulation whilst improving noise suppression. 2) identify appropriate autonomous robotic systems to work alongside AM such as smart grasping 3) maximise the benefit of AM which needs the capability to be mobile so that it can be readily set up and used on a construction site (or in near-site factory). Combined, this will enable the optimisation of productivity while effectively reducing building costs. However, there are challenges that need to be overcome in terms of materials selection, removal of waste product and finishing after placement to provide a suitable surface and materials formulation."