Olesti, Guillem Perutxet;
Rozas, Kenneth Wilson;
Morlie, Laetitia;
Salmane, Anete Krista;
Devadass, Pradeep;
Cruz, Marcos;
Parker, Brenda;
(2025)
Automated earth-construction: scale up and potential for soil bioremediation.
Architecture, Structures and Construction
, 5
(2)
, Article 45. 10.1007/s44150-025-00157-z.
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Abstract
This research presents a methodology for automated construction of engineered earth structures in temporary, or "meanwhile," landscapes. Through a series of experiments, the optimal material compositions were identified to balance bioremediation potential based on cell viability, and structural stability based on rheological criteria. The study integrated computational design with environmental analysis and developed robotic manufacturing techniques optimized for heterogeneous materials. This approach aims to achieve manufacturing repeatability by accommodating variations in local soil, ensuring reliable performance across different sites. A set of small-scale prototypes were created, along with a full-scale demonstrator installed on a meanwhile site and monitored over 12 months (5mx3.5mx1.5 m). Automated earth construction enables the precise design of a landscape’s composition, layout, and structure, which subsequently influences abiotic factors like soil moisture, temperature, and aeration essential for microbial activity. This workflow establishes the basis for a soil-agnostic robotic manufacturing process, enabling the on-site delivery of beneficial microbial consortia to remediate pollution and improve soil health.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Automated earth-construction: scale up and potential for soil bioremediation |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s44150-025-00157-z |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s44150-025-00157-z |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Soil bioremediation · Robotic fabrication · Computational design · Automated construction · Bio-integrated Design |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10210528 |
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