Industrial robots are primarily known from the automotive industry's production lines. The goal of this class is to present robots instead as multifunctional and flexible interfaces between the digital and the physical world that can be used for anything from innovative, large-scale fabrication to immersive virtual reality (VR) simulators. This extension beyond the robots' initial scope is enabled by new software developments that facilitate a seamless workflow from design to machine through Dynamo software and KUKA prc. Utilizing parametric design tools lets us use robots for mass customization and small lot sizes, rather than mass fabrication. The class will provide an overview on how to utilize industrial robots through Dynamo and Fusion 360 software, and present realized projects by both small to medium-size enterprises as well as international corporations.

In the United States, around 200,000 manned U.S. general aviation aircraft have been registered over the last 50 years. By contrast, 750,000 unmanned aircraft systems -- aka drones -- have now been registered, including more than 40,000 in the last two weeks of December 2016 alone. It exemplifies the dramatic influx of "things," which carries unprecedented opportunity for digital disruption. They're typically full of sensors, increasingly connected, produce enormous amounts of data and can be the source of newer, smarter business models that touch every industry. For example, in the past decade, wind turbines have quickly evolved from isolated standalone machines to connected, sensor-laden, intelligent devices.