Discretised Match: Adaptive Assembly of Timber Components With Dimensional Variability

Timber construction offers a promising solution to urban expansion needs while significantly reducing buildings' embodied carbon. However, the rising demand for timber has strained forest ecosystems. To maintain sustainable timber availability, it is crucial to extend material lifecycles and minimise waste through reuse applications. However, the dimensional variability of timber elements from sources like cut-offs and scaffolding poses technical challenges for reuse. Previous research on workflows for utilising non-standard timber components has relied on databases of pre-scanned components and offline optimisation. In contrast, this project introduces a novel online assembly-planning workflow for reusing dimensionally varied timber components without a pre-defined inventory. By eliminating the need for scanning and processing steps required in other approaches, this adaptive system leverages a computationally efficient workflow to streamline robotic assembly through live computational processing, effectively addressing the trade-offs between material variability, design inputs, and fabrication constraints.