Laurentian researchers earn $250K grant for construction robotics project
A team of researchers from Laurentian University had earned a federal grant for a project involving robotics and construction.
The team's proposal, entitled Human-Robot Interaction and Collaboration as a Catalyst for Creative Economy, Community Outreach and Emerging Design-Build Solutions in Ontario's North, aims to harness advanced technologies as a way to strengthen northern economies and communities.
The project’s main goal is to eliminate barriers to digital tools and technologies in the North through the development of a portable, cable-driven parallel robot (CDPR) for large scale fabrication and assembly. This would have many important uses, particularly in northern communities where building costs are prohibitive. As part of the project, a user-friendly custom-built interface for the CPDR will also be designed.
The idea behind the project is to deploy new materials through emerging technologies; to improve rural and northern health by directly confronting the housing crisis in remote communities; to address the technological challenges in Northern Ontario; and to engage in community-centered research that benefits all northern communities, including Indigenous and Francophone.
The principal investigator, Prof. Steven Beites, alongside co-applicants Marc Arsenault, Blake Dotta and Reza Foruzanmehr, have received $250,000 from the New Frontiers in Research Fund, an initiative of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee.
“It’s an exciting project that focuses on Northern Ontario and seeks to introduce emergent technologies to non-professional users as a means to revitalize northern communities through making, ideation and invention,” said Beites.
The researchers hail from Laurentian’s McEwen School of Architecture, Bharti School of Engineering, and the Behavioural Neuroscience Department.
Featured image: Laurentian University campus. (Laurentian University)