Marmomac: where artificial intelligence meets natural stone
28.09.2023
The trade fair in Verona highlights the latest digital applications for an increasingly eco-aware use of natural stone: from 3D printing capable of recycling up to 80% of processing waste to AI redesigning the architecture of the future in natural stone, without cement and steel.
Verona, 28 September 2023 –An ancient and immutable material such as natural stone crosses paths with the potential of algorithms and 3D printing. This is all on show at the 57th Marmomac, the landmark international exhibition for the techno-natural stone supply chain scheduled at Veronafiere until 29 September. The 12 show halls display the latest technological innovations applied to marble and granite processing. Here the high-tech sector becomes a valid ally for an increasingly eco-aware natural stone industry. What can be done with the production "waste" arising from quarrying, cutting and modelling operations involving blocks of natural stone?
The main challenge for researchers today is to understand how to give new life to this "secondary" material. This was explained at Marmomac by Giuseppe Fallacara, Professor of Architectural Design at Bari Polytechnic University and curator of the Marmomac Meets Academies exhibition involving Italian and international universities in explorations into the potential applications of natural stone.
"First and foremost, I would prefer not to use the word "waste" with reference to the world of natural stone. It has a negative meaning because in reality up to 80% can be reused thanks to 3D printing," said Architect Fallacara. In relation to this topic, Marmomac will host displays of physical prototypes of cutting-edge applications of powders and fine products from crushing which, combined with various kinds of binder, can be returned to the construction market - through 3D printing - as material recomposed into new blocks.
"We are now experimenting with the structural and aesthetic performance of such products, which may well give new life to the construction world," Fallacara added. “In addition to creative re-use, natural stone production can be made even more sustainable by reducing processing waste. Even in this case, technology provides an answer inspired by Michelangelo's old sculpting technique: visualize the shapes of the project in advance and thereby waste as little as possible of the unhewn block of natural stone. While inspiration comes from the distant past, it actually looks into the future."
Assistance, in this case, comes from artificial intelligence. The last frontier is the application of AI to studies into how shapes can be generated: advanced computation design and digital fabrication programs guide robot arms and numerical controlled cutters at a precision of one-tenth of a millimetre with the task of processing natural stone and thereby minimize waste while optimizing it from a structural point of view.
"We are increasingly using this approach in an effort to spread in architecture schools," said Fallacara. “We are also using artificial intelligence to try and investigate the new spatial ratios of the future. In other words, we once needed pieces of stone cut into precise shapes which, when combined in classic configurations, could give life to the vaults or domes that have characterized our architectural heritage for millennia. Now we can use AI to imagine alternative and complex construction combinations without using concrete or steel, but only with stone ashlars under compression."
The relationship between natural stone, art, technology and sustainability is also at the heart of the dynamic installation titled ”The Applaud”, a protagonist in The Plus Theatre – itself another focal point for experimentation associated with natural stone at Marmomac. The work “Fragment” by Andreas Senoner, processed "live" over the four days of the event, is being created using a mechanical robot arm under continuous operation. The act of creating the sculpture tends towards circularity thanks to filter press treating processing water, whereby it can be 100% recycled. “The Applaud is the outcome of collaboration between a number of companies and professionals," explained the architect and curator of Hall 10, Giorgio Canale. “Proposed in person by Brand & Stone and DDM Branding, this idea was launched at Marmomac. The main concept of the installation is to show visitors how people and machines can work together to create and develop projects. Never before has work involving live human-machine interaction been shown on show days. This was the challenge and we overcame it." The sculpture involves Cammeo Imperiale materials by Cereser Marmi, production was entrusted to Donatoni Group and filtering treatment to Dal Prete, while technical aspects were handled by PolyPiù.
Artificial intelligence will also help the techno-natural stone supply chain in terms of production through Digital Twin, the system capable of simulating natural stone processing, estimating timing and reducing or eliminating errors. A model based on merging machine, virtual reality and data which may even become part of staff training procedures or an essential tool during machinery sales negotiations. All this is well-known to Siemens, the renowned industrial giant attending Marmomac this year as an exhibitor to illustrate the latest AI innovations applied to the natural stone sector. A digital environment can achieve 100% faithful simulation of the assembly of a machine and how if actually performs, while also studying the wear of mechanical parts, as well as the individual material processing stages. Lastly, AI also monitors energy consumption in a centralized, virtual environment with the aim of optimizing production processes, thereby making machines more efficient and more sustainable.
