This object is a submission for the 2018 Rep Your Department Challenge hosted by the McGill Additive Manufacturing Student Society where I am representing University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning is renowned for using industrial technology in exploring digital fabrication research within architecture.  Michigan’s Detroit area was once the industrialization capital of the world during Henry Ford’s period of automobile construction within various prominent factories throughout the area.  Taubman College of Architecture continues such industrial technology in its application for architectural research within the University of Michigan.

My design submission attempts to fully represent University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture along with Michigan’s industrial history through its incorporation of robotic technology in the fabrication of our University of Michigan’s “M” logo.  In the design the robots are able to be fitted into the construction of our school logo and move linearly with a circular range of motion to assemble the various areas of the “M” logo that are in need of construction.

Each robotic arm is assembled in pieces that are designed to be put together with various joints that give each robotic arm a full 7-axis range of motion. The robot systems are meant to be configurable with a variety of tools mountable to the robotic arms such as a welding torch or a 2-finger gripper.

The robotic arms fit into the design of our school logo on a linear axis invoking the assembly line production of automobiles prominent within factories developed during the industrialization period of Detroit that made Michigan renowned in industrial technology.  However, the assembly line production being replaced by robots conveys the future of industrial technology where many factories within Michigan and around the world are being run mainly by robots under the supervision of a single human being.  Such digital fabrication research is being led within Taubman College of Architecture.

This object attempts to fully convey Taubman College’s pride in researching digital fabrication technology within architecture that continues to build, quite literally, the University of Michigan.

Hope you find the model enjoyable physically and conceptually!

Assembly of Print:

The model has three parts to the print with a print for the “M” logo and two prints for each robotic arm.  The robotic arm prints have components that are connected with pin joints that allow the robotic arm to move in 7-axis.  Each robotic arm fits into the “M” logo where it can slide linearly and rotate freely along the logo.