Sam Wilcock
I’m a research fellow in the Arch // Struct Lab at the Politecnico di Milano. I work where robotics meets the built environment, building the limits of fabrication into the design process itself, so that what gets designed is something a robot can actually put together.
Most of that work is about curved and discrete structures: robotic assembly of timber panel and shell systems, multi-camera tracking so robots know where parts really are, laser-cut construction kits, and the occasional kinetic sculpture or aerial construction experiment. The aim is workflows that take a complex geometry from the CAD model to the assembled thing with as little hand-holding as possible.
I did my PhD at the School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, on efficient robotic assembly of shell structures, after an MSc (Eng) in Mechatronics and Robotics and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering. Day to day that means ROS 2, C++ and Python on the robot side, and parametric modelling in Rhino and Grasshopper on the design side.
I also teach. I’m a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have developed and delivered courses at both Politecnico di Milano and Leeds, mostly on digital design and fabrication.
When I’m not working I’m playing at circus skills, rock climbing or out for a biiiiig walk.
