Web-to-Real Application for Artistic Robotic Surface Processing of Natural Stone

Stonemasonry is a traditional industry with a long history. Due to increasingly competitive markets in a hazardous work environment with high physical strain on the stonemasons, a system was developed to automate natural stone surface processing in order to diminish repetitive movements in manual labor. This is achieved using a hammering mechanism and traditional mason’s chisels, mimicking traditional techniques and surface appearance. The producible patterns can be informed by a wide range of inputs, from the sampled brightness values of images to 3D attractor points. In order to mediate between the complex possibilities and end-user friendly design techniques, we developed a Web-to-Real Application prototype. This allows for a streamlined process from design to production. For a person without training in stone masonry the results of the chiseling process are very unpredictable. Hence the goal of this application is to give the user the opportunity to see how a certain pattern or image would look like when chiseled 3-dimensional into various stones. The user can select the type of natural stone and structuring pattern or upload an own image. From this information, a first rough estimation of the chiseled surface is calculated and shown to the user, directly within the browser. If the user requires a more accurate prediction of the resulting stone surface, the information is transferred to a remote computer where robot paths and final surface appearance are calculated within an offline programming system.