Automation And Integration Of The Design And Construction Of Concrete Buildings Mohammad Alfares* and Ali Seireg** * Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 5969 Safat 13060, Kuwait. ** Mechanical Engineering Department, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, 53706, USA. ABSTRACT The study reported in this paper demonstrates an interactive Computer - Integrated Construction system (CIC) with graphic display for custom design of concrete buildings and automated on-site implementation by robotic devices . The developed system utilizes standardized reusable modular forms which are specially designed for assembly and disassembly by robots . These forms serve as the link between design and construction. An interesting feature of the system is the ability to use the design information to automatically generate optimized construction planning and scheduling information for any weighted function of cost and desired time for completion . The study represented is a simulation to investigate the feasibility of such integrated system. 1. INTRODUCTION The remarkable progress of Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) and Automation in the manufacturing industry can be an excellent incentive to the construction industry to solve these problems'. Many successful CIM and Automation concepts such as the integration of the management, planning, design, and manufacturing operations can define goals to make better use of Automation and Robotics in the construction arena. Good progress has been made in the automation of some construction activities at the work site, which focuses on automating individual processes2. However, it is the integration and simplification of these activities, and approaching the problem from a total system viewpoint that is severely lacking in the construction industry. The methodology introduced in this paper describes an interactive Computer- Integrated Construction system (CIC)3 with graphic display for custom design of concrete buildings and automated on-site implementation by robotic devices. The developed system utilizes standardized reusable modular forms which are specially designed for assembly and disassembly by robots. These forms serve as the link between design and construction. -511- 13th ISARC