08/10/2026
🏠 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆?
This question lies at the heart of the European research project “𝗣𝗧𝗔𝗛 – 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗧𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴”. At the project kick-off on September 29, 2026, at the University of Sheffield/AMRC, United Kingdom, the international consortium met for the first time to shape the construction site of the future.
🏗️ Europe is facing two major challenges: a shortage of affordable housing and the urgent need to decarbonize the construction sector. PTAH therefore explores how containerized robotic micro factories, semi-autonomous cranes, mobile robots and humans can work together directly on construction sites. The goal is to deliver sustainable timber buildings with industrial precision, high efficiency and a strong focus on circularity.
🤖 For the researchers at Fraunhofer IFAM in Stade, Germany, a robotized construction crane is a key element of construction site coordination. A retrofitted crane system is being developed to transport and precisely position materials under human supervision. Mobile robotic systems can be deployed to their respective work locations and used as end effectors for assembly tasks.
🔍 At the same time, the crane serves as a sensor platform: LiDAR, stereo cameras and additional sensors are used to verify material positions, monitor construction progress and localize people, robots as well as other actors on site. The resulting data is integrated into a 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 – a shared, continuously updated representation of the status of the construction site.
🔗 Together with so-called 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀, this world model forms the foundation for coordinated processes. Fraunhofer IFAM contributes expertise in sensor fusion as well as in the synchronization and state management of the digital twins.
👥 Humans remain at the center of the process: skilled workers supervise operations and can intervene at any time. Haptic, visual and sensory feedback, combined with intelligent collision avoidance, support safe and intuitive human-machine collaboration.
♻️ The objective of PTAH is the construction of a two-story timber pavilion designed specifically for robotic assembly. It will serve as a demonstrator for precise, reversible and circular construction methods.
🤝 We are excited to collaborate wth The University of Sheffield AMRC, Instituto Eduardo Torroja, AUAR, Space Solar Group Holdings Ltd and TU Delft.
We also gratefully acknowledge the support of our funding bodies: the 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 under 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 – 𝗘𝗜𝗖 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 (Grant Agreement No. 101307365) as well as the Land Niedersachsen and NBank, Germany.
Philip Carstensen, Christian Böhlmann, Simon Kothe
