The IGCE recently welcomed students from HTL Mödling to its Robot Laboratory for an exciting insight into current research on sustainable timber construction and robotic manufacturing.

During the visit, the students explored how digital fabrication technologies can support the transition towards a more circular construction industry. A key focus was the structural reuse of timber components, an increasingly important strategy for reducing resource consumption and extending the service life of building materials.

To demonstrate the challenges and opportunities of timber reuse, identical joints were robotically milled into both new glued laminated timber and reclaimed structural timber recovered from a former laboratory building. The resulting joints were then analysed using high-precision laser scanning to compare machining accuracy and surface quality.

The demonstration provided valuable insights into how robotics, digital manufacturing and circular construction principles can be combined to create more resource-efficient building systems.

We would like to thank the students and teachers from HTL Mödling for their visit and their interest in sustainable construction and look forward to welcoming the next generation of engineers back to our laboratory.