An Automated Construction Learning Factory: Driving Digital Design, Additive Manufacturing, and Robotic Assembly with IFC

Construction automation remains fragmented, with Building Information Modeling (BIM), Additive Manufacturing (AM), and robotics operating as isolated technologies rather than integrated systems. This research presents and evaluates an integrated framework that connects and automates design, manufacturing, transportation and assembly through Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) data exchange within a physical Construction Learning Factory (CLF). Implemented at 1:50 scale, the framework demonstrates how standardized BIM data can drive coordinated automation across separate processes. Six high-detail modular building components were fabricated through an automated slicing and digital fabrication workflow, transported via autonomous navigation, and assembled in a controlled CLF setup within millimeter-level positioning accuracy. Performance evaluation comparing automated operation against manual control demonstrated measurable differences in consistency, accuracy, and throughput, while revealing inherent trade-offs between speed and reliability, especially in the context of transportation. The complete digital fabrication workflow – from IFC model through automated manufacturing, vision-triggered transport, to coordinate-driven assembly – operates without proprietary middleware, using open-format data exchange and relatively lightweight integration scripts. This work illustrates foundational capabilities for standardized, interoperable data workflows in construction automation. These implemented at larger scale can assist practitioners in real-world construction processes.