Robotics grant awarded at LSBU BEA
New research grant awarded on sustainable robotic additive manufacturing at LSBU BEA
Associate Professor Federico Rossi and DARLAB director have been awarded with £133K grant from UKMSN+, UK Manufacturing Symbiosis Network Plus, an EPSRC-funded Network Plus created to stimulate the growth of manufacturing research and communities concerned with developing manufacturing synergies for the circular economy.
The project SCRAM – Sustainable Construction through Robotic Additive Manufacturing - is looking to define a new model of circular manufacturing where plastics waste that adds considerable reclaimable value and generates new revenue streams in the UK. If scaled up across the construction sector to replace 20% of structural concrete, the proposed innovation could offset about 2 million tons of concrete in the UK each year, delivering 1% of the total carbon savings in the next carbon budget from this innovation alone. If extended to the global market, this innovation will offset 750 million tons of cement and 380 million tons of CO2 annually, equivalent to the total carbon footprint of the UK and contributes to the Clean Growth Grand Challenge.
SCRAM will merge supply chain economics, advanced digital systems, robotic manufacturing and polymer processing to create an innovative circular manufacturing ecosystem for sustainable building components. We will define a new circular economy in waste plastics that bridges the manufacturing and construction sectors whilst demonstrating that robotic AM can produce strong multifunctional building components from polymers recycled based that can provide thermal, acoustic comfort as well parts that can achieve performance of steel.
Updates on the research project can be found on SCRAM | DARLAB and SCRAM | UKMSN