Research Infrastructure
Overview
- RAP-LAB and ASL-LAB I Robotic Architecture Production
- vrar:lab | Laboratory for Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality
- TWE Lab I Digital Metal Workshop
- BKE labs I Experimental Materials Research
- Laboratory for Technical Building Services
- Laboratory for Building Physics + Experimental Area
- doku:lab I Documentation and Media Workshop
- TRACES Research Station for Exhibition Studies
- Soil Laboratory I Greenhouse
- Seeding + Planting
The Laboratory for Robotic Architecture Production (RAP - LAB) is a DFG-funded large-scale research instrument. It was designed as a central component of the faculty's research equipment and enables a broad spectrum of architectural, structural and materials science research.
The facility features a suspended industrial robot that can be moved on a gantry, a mobile sliding robot and a 4 m horizontal positioner that can be used cooperatively with each other in a variety of configurations for architectural-scale research projects.
The facility, with a working area of approximately 200 square meters, is designed for maximum flexibility of use through variable collaborative robot setups, modular tool control systems and connectivity for use in a variety of research projects.
The lab enables the participating research groups to work on individual issues in the field of robotic manufacturing in a targeted, precise and in-depth manner.
The ASL LAB is a small research laboratory that works as a scaled twin of the RAP Lab. It is also based on an ABB 6-axis robot on a linear axis, another mobile robot and a variable positioning unit and is designed with exactly the same programming and tool configuration. This means that research and study projects can be implemented as prototypes and later examined in the large-scale system.
In the Laboratory for Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality, short vrar:lab, you can move through your building design or experience what your workplace looks like in the Sahel desert.
In VR (virtual reality), users are placed in an artificially created (rendered) environment with the help of glasses equipped with screens and can physically move around. The position and movements are recorded by sensors and displayed on the glasses in real time. This creates the impression of being in this environment.
In AR (augmented reality), users also wear glasses, but these allow them to see the real environment transparently. This environment is enriched by projections onto the lenses of these glasses. For the wearer of these glasses, artificially created objects appear to be present in reality.
Both techniques make it easier to imagine complex 3D objects or spatial situations. Theoretically, both methods can also enable collaborative work. However, this is not yet integrated in our expansion stage.
The TWE Laboratory is currently being set up as a digital metal workshop. It has a 50kN testing machine and is currently being equipped with a DFG-funded large device for laser cutting thick sheet metal, 3D laser cutting and 3D welding.
The BKE Labs have machines and equipment for carrying out test and measurement series as well as for developing prototypes and 1:1 projects in experimental materials research. They form the basis for carrying out the research work of the BAU KUNST ERFINDEN research platform.
The HOLZ TEXTIL LAB develops continuous filaments made from solid wood and textiles made from solid wood. Processing devices for wood thread production and wood thread finishing are designed and built. The interaction of form-giving influencing variables of the wood thread and wood thread fabrics are researched and the relationships between the technical and aesthetic functions of material and form are examined.
The DIY LAB is a research and prototype laboratory used jointly by students and university staff. It forms an interface between research, teaching and artistic experimentation. The aim is to develop alternative solutions for all kinds of problems. High-tech, low-budget machines are built in-house, such as CNC milling machines, 3D printers, thermoforming machines, laser saws, etc.
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The Laboratory for Technical Building Equipment has a mechanical ventilation system that supplies three test rooms and whose operating variables are measured extensively. There is also a test stand for heating hydraulics. Both systems are used in teaching and research, for example for experiments on energy-efficient air and water conveyance.
The Laboratory for Building Physics contains measuring equipment, measuring devices and software tools for working on building physics tasks. They are presented in lectures and exercises and operated by the students themselves in practical courses. The equipment and measuring devices are also used to work on tasks as part of student theses (Bachelor, Master) and as part of research activities.
The measuring equipment is located in the ZUB building:
- Climatic cabinets
- Test facility for water vapor permeability
- Workshop for tensile tests
- Weather station
The following measuring equipment is housed in the Kolbenseeger building:
Another test stand is on the ASL 1 building. Here, tests can be carried out on and via façade elements.
Other equipment includes measuring devices, hand-held measuring devices and data loggers for thermal, hygric, acoustic and daylight analyses.
The doku:lab is a multimedia documentation and information center of the faculty, which complements other university services (library, research databases) and is geared towards the specific subject-related needs of students and the academic requirements of the faculty.
The core of the doku:lab's offering is an extensive collection of "gray literature", student work, maps and videos dating back to 1979. The collection and indexing of student work forms a large store of knowledge and is used intensively in teaching as a source of data as well as a pool of good methodological approaches. The doku:lab is also available as a collection for teaching materials, scripts, exam tasks and more.
The approximately 100 square meter TRACES Research Station is located at Lutherplatz in Kassel's city centre, 200 meters north of Königsplatz. Since fall 2019, the station has served as a space for dialogue between urban society and the university for a period of five years. Here, students and lecturers will provide insights into their work with talks, lectures, workshops, seminars and exhibitions and involve the public in research in the spirit of "citizen science".
The TRACES Research Station was set up as a design-build project by students of architecture, landscape architecture, product design and visual communication under the direction of the Department of Theory of Architecture and Design at the University of Kassel.
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