ReSidual

Robotics and AI-based utilization of reclaimed wood in the digital fabrication of structural hybrid wood-earth components

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Given the global increase in the share of timber construction, demand for softwood-based building materials is expected to exceed available annual production in the medium term. At the same time, the timber industry reports that strength grading increasingly yields boards of lower strength classes that are difficult to use, as well as scrap material, which is predominantly used for thermal energy or processed into adhesive-based products such as particleboard. There is therefore an urgent need for material-efficient approaches that harness secondary material streams in timber construction through digital building technology and integrate them into the structural material cycle.

ReSidual aims to use digital construction technology to use wood more economically as a resource in the construction industry. Waste material from the production of timber components will be joined into load-bearing components using artificial intelligence and robotic fabrication methods. Combining wood with building clay will further reduce the amount of wood required.

In the cooperation project between the KIT Professorship for Digital Design and Fabrication, the KIT Professorship for Timber and Building Construction, and the industry partner GROPYIUS, the necessary AI-based planning and robotic manufacturing processes, joining techniques, and the clay-wood material composite are to be researched.

The findings will evaluate the structural and architectural potential of such a recyclable and wood-saving construction method and provide an outlook on possible applications to replace established wood-concrete composite ceilings.