Review of robotic-assisted operation planning for large-scale printing in construction

Prefabricated construction is transforming the building industry with enhanced efficiency and sustainability. Within this trend, robotic 3D printing for large-scale structures has emerged as a key technology, valued for its flexibility, precision, and cost-effectiveness. This review explores this gap by analyzing the key technologies for robotic-assisted 3D printing in construction. The unique attributes of the construction environment and their implications for robot localization and mapping are focused. The core of the paper provides a detailed discussion of operation planning, breaking it down into two main components: task planning and motion planning. However, the large-scale of printing tasks, combined with dynamic varying and unstructured construction environments, presents a specific requirement for task division. This review provides the current state-of-the-art, existing shortcomings in construction robotics, and planning of sub-tasks. Finally, the development trends with technologies of artificial intelligent, digital twins, building information model (BIM) and smart materials for 3D printing are concluded, which accelerate the advancement of intelligent construction.