Computational Assemblies: Bridging the gap from concept to production

You are cordially invited to attend the research seminar – Computational Assemblies: Bridging the gap from concept to production by Ziqi Wang

Date: 5 February 2024 (Mon)
Time: 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Venue: SDE 4 Level 5 The Forum

Abstract
Assemblies are ubiquitous in our daily lives, with applications ranging from small toys to large buildings. By combining parts of simpler shapes, assemblies enable the creation of complex structures, an approach extensively adopted in architecture and construction.

Making assembly was once a labor-intensive process. The advancements in automation have led to the increased use of robots to accomplish assembly tasks, including at construction sites. Still, designing complex assemblies poses a significant intellectual challenge. Current design software requires users to specify numerous low-level details, significantly limiting their creativity.

Therefore, to address the challenges in current assembly design, my research focuses on developing a new end-to-end concept-to-production workflow called computational assemblies. In this talk, I’ll be excited to showcase how my new computational algorithms are opening doors to:
1. Computational design of infinitely reusable structural systems.
2. Computational analysis of free-form self-supporting structures and globally interlocking assemblies.
3. Computationally fabricating complex assemblies using augmented reality (AR) and robotics.

About the speaker
Ziqi Wang is a Postdoctoral researcher at Computational Robotics Lab (CRL), ETH Zurich, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Stelian Coros. He completed his Ph.D. at the Geometric Computing Laboratory (GCM) at EPFL in 2021, guided by Prof. Dr. Mark Pauly. Prior to his Ph.D., he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 2017 from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC).