System and method for automating construction and installation of surfaces in construction

Abstract

A system and method for automating construction that includes collecting a multi-dimensional point cloud measurement of at least one construction structure that includes at least one surface; generating a construction plan from the multi-dimensional point cloud measurement, wherein the construction plan defines an assembly arrangement of a set of parts; from the construction plan, automatically generating a cut list for a subset of parts; communicating the cut list to a cutting device; and at the cutting device, cutting a set of materials according to the cut list.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for automating paneled construction comprising:
 collecting a multi-dimensional point cloud measurement of at least one construction structure that includes at least one surface;   generating a construction plan from the multi-dimensional point cloud measurement, wherein the construction plan defines an assembly arrangement of a set of parts;   from the construction plan, automatically generating a cut list for a subset of parts;   communicating the cut list to a cutting device; and   at the cutting device, cutting a set of materials according to the cut list.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein collecting the multi-dimensional point cloud comprises, at a measurement device, scanning the construction structure and thereby collecting the multi-dimensional point cloud measurement; and wherein the multi-dimensional point cloud measurement is a two or more dimensional point cloud measurement defining a perimeter of at least one surface of the construction structure. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the assembly arrangement characterizes placement of parts to cover the construction structure; and wherein generating the construction plan further comprises generating the assembly arrangement that defines an arrangement of a set of paneling parts that satisfies design conditions. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the construction structure includes at least a tread surface and a riser surface for one stair; and wherein generating a construction plan defines dimensions and assembly arrangement of stair tread parts, riser parts, and nosing parts; and wherein the cut list specifies cutting instructions for non-standard parts in the set of stair tread parts, riser parts, and nosing parts. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the construction structure includes a base flooring surface; and wherein generating a construction plan defines dimensions and assembly arrangement of flooring planks; and wherein the cut list specifies cutting instructions for non-standard flooring planks. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein scanning the construction structure to collect the multi-dimensional point cloud measurement comprises collecting a plurality of point cloud measurements of subregions of a first surface of the construction structure and unifying the plurality of point cloud measurements into a single point cloud measurement of the first surface. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the measurement device is a coordinate measurement machine arm. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the measurement device is a laser scanning measurement device, wherein scanning the construction structure comprises, for a given position on a stair, scanning a tread surface of the stair and scanning a riser surface of the stair. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising, sensing environment conditions at the measurement device; collecting a present condition of the set of materials; modeling material changes from the present condition to the environment conditions; and augmenting parameters of the cut list according to the material changes; wherein environmental conditions include at least temperature and humidity. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein scanning the construction structure comprises scanning three dimensional surface elevations at a plurality of points on the construction surface; wherein the cut list defines at least one part with a shim surface; and wherein cutting the set of materials comprises cutting at least one part with the shim surface. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein cutting the material comprises translating position of material along one horizontal axis and translating a cutting tool perpendicularly; and varying elevation of the cutting tool in coordination with horizontal translation thereby promoting surface cuts on the material. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , assigning an identifier for each part; and wherein cutting the set of materials comprises marking the material with an identifier assigned to a corresponding part. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , at an assembly user interface, receiving a part identifier input and rendering a graphic indicating position in the assembly arrangement for a part assigned the part identifier input. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein cutting material is cut by a cutting device with three linear degrees of freedom when cutting material. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein cutting material is cut by a continuous material fed cutting device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein cutting material with the continuous material-fed cutting device comprises retrieving material from an input to a material feed system; translating material position along a first defined axis within the material feed system and translating a cutting tool along a second defined axis that is perpendicular to the first axis; and actuating a cutting tool along a third dimension normal to the first defined axis and second defined axis. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising feeding uncut materials into a bed of the cutting device and ejecting cut materials through an output upon finishing cutting of the material. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the material is tongue and grooved planks. 
     
     
         19 . A system for a customizable paneling construction comprising:
 a measuring device, wherein the measuring device is configured to collecting a multi-dimensional point cloud measurement of at least one construction structure that includes at least one surface;
 a designating system configured to generate a construction plan from the multi-dimensional point cloud measurement, wherein the construction plan defines an assembly arrangement of a set of parts, and, from the construction plan, generate a cut list for a subset of parts; and 
   a cutting device configured to cut a set of materials according to the cut list.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the paneling construction comprises flooring for steps of a staircase, wherein the flooring comprises at least a tread for the top surface of each step and a riser for the front surface of each step. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the cutting device is a roller-fed cutting device.