Construction Robotics - Call for Papers - Sustainability and Robotics

Guest Editor: 
Dr. Deena El-Mahdy, The British University in Egypt (BUE)

Submission status: Open   |   Submission deadline: 15 March 2024

Description
Construction robots are increasingly being integrated into both academia and industrial fields as an empowering component of creating sustainable solutions. This can be seen in new robotic approaches to sustainable construction, novel forms of automation in vernacular architecture, and innovative methods of material fabrication. These robotic approaches to sustainable solutions offer a new focus on construction which can resist climate change, optimize waste reduction, reduce energy consumption or carbon emission, improve passive thermal performance or allow for greater material recycling/reuse.  Construction robots can be integrated into solutions which address the changing climate and challenges of material impact. Robots can work in extreme conditions which push the limits of human labor, and can be used to build more high performance architectural geometry with sustainable approaches to materiality. These benefits can be seen in sustainable approaches to automation of high accuracy tasks such as; 3D printing for thermal performance, novel material creation and customization, upcycling of architectural components, new forms of assembly, analysis and adaptivity with the goals of saving time, materials, cost and waste reduction. While the complexity of this technology requires significant time and research in order to be used in widely in construction, there are many projects pushing this approach forward.

This Special Issue welcomes submissions of research articles that explore the intersection of sustainability and robotics in research and construction.

The Special Issue seeks to promote automated approaches to increasing efficiency, using new materials in high performance ways, building for solar radiation reduction, passive cooling, and adaptive architecture. With the growing importance of addressing the impact of Architecture Engineering and Construction, we aim to celebrate and promote new approaches to innovation and automation in sustainability.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• 3D printing/assembly using sustainable materials
• Optimization/digital fabrication for material reduction
• Innovations in material for sustainable automation
• Automation of material reuse/recycling/deconstruction
• Façade construction for improved thermal performance
• Passive cooling integration with robotics
• On-site and off-site automated fabrication
• Path planning of robotic for sustainability
• Robotics in sustainable education
• Robotics in vernacular architecture
• Traditional craftsmanship and robotics
• Timber and different cutting techniques
• Automated life cycle assessment
• Efficient material deposition
• Lean robotic construction
• Carbon reduction/Environmental efficiency
• Any research where robots improve environmental impact

Submission guidelines
All papers must be prepared in accordance with the Instructions for Authors at: https://www.springer.com/journal/41693/submission-guidelines (this opens in a new tab). Authors should submit through the online submission site and select article type “SI - Sustainability and Robotics". 

Submitted papers should present original, unpublished work, relevant to one of the topics of the Special Issue. All submitted papers will be evaluated on the basis of relevance, significance of contribution, technical quality, scholarship, and quality of presentation, by at least two independent reviewers. It is the policy of the journal that no submission, or substantially overlapping submission, be published or be under review at another journal or conference at any time during the review process. Final decisions on all papers are made by the Editor-in-Chief.

Meet the Guest Editor:

Dr. Deena El-Mahdy is an Assistant Professor in the Architectural Engineering Department at the British University in Egypt. She holds BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees from Cairo University. She holds a postgraduate degree from the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) related to 3D printing with Earth 2021/2022, where she was awarded the Colette scholarship.  Deena’s research and publications focus on the integration of computational design, digital fabrication processes, robotics, and additive manufacturing techniques in both education and construction. Her current research is exploring low-cost techniques for bricklaying in construction and 3D printing using sustainable materials in construction. Across her multidisciplinary areas through several funded projects, grants, and workshops in construction internationally and nationally, she was awarded BIM Africa innovation award under the category of "Best Woman in African Construction" in 2023 and shortlisted in the Tamayouz award in the category of "Rising star” for women in Architecture and Construction" in 2018 and 2019. Deena is also a co-founder of Cairo Heritage School which is a collaborative educational platform dedicated to heritage, urbanism, architecture, and built environment.