Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Funding is requested for an industrial robotic cell for the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing at the University of British Columbia Vancouver (UBC). UBC is home to a unique interdisciplinary cluster of excellence within the Chair of Wood Building Design and Construction, which represents Canada's largest concentration of R&D expertise in timber design and manufacturing, and its contributions to emerging technologies and processes in this area are recognized worldwide. Due to its very nature, timber is inherently more difficult to transform into complex forms since it cannot be moulded nor welded. Computer Aided Design and Computer Numerically Controlled fabrication technologies, however, can produce new spatial and material expressions consistent with the notion of complex environments. The ongoing research within the UBC Chair of Wood Building Design and Construction aims to allow these digital designs to be readily prototyped, tested and refined. The requested industrial robotic cell will support multidisciplinary research programs of a number of professors in the Departments of Wood Science, Civil Engineering and the School of Architecture at UBC. The equipment will allow UBC researchers to play a leading role in developing the use of industrial robotics in the wood industry and architectural design world, as well as outreach to the professional design and construction communities.