Adaptive Toolpath: Enhanced Design and Process Control for Robotic 3DCP

The recent advances in 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) greatly impact architectural design, highlighting the disconnection between digital modelling and manufacturing processes. Conventional digital design tools present limitations in the description of a volumetric object, which is constrained to the definition of idealized external boundaries but neglect material, textural, and machinic information. However, 3DCP is based on material extrusion following a programmed toolpath, which requires custom modelling and methods to anticipate the manufacturing results. The paper presents the development of an interactive tool for the preview of 3D printing toolpaths within Grasshopper. Through an experimental campaign and analysis of material results, we integrate geometric, physical and design feedback within the design process. The accurate control of manufacturing variables such as printing speed and dimensions of the layers, together with the simulation and visualization of the results, makes them design parameters, opening to new formal and structural articulations in the design process. The developed instruments are tested on full scale printed prototypes, where their precision is demonstrated. Integrated into a 3DCP-specific design framework, the overall approach contributes to closing the existing gap between the digital environment and fabrication procedures in the construction industry.