Digital Timber Production Standards

At the Robot Lab, we develop advanced robotic milling workflows for timber fabrication using custom software and hardware. While our current tools offer high flexibility, they require substantial technical work and are difficult to scale or share with students and partners.

This project explores how open industry standards, like BTLX, can help us build smarter, more interoperable systems for timber construction. The goal is to develop a unified software pipeline that can take any timber design and automatically generate machine-ready code—bridging the gap between digital design and robotic manufacturing.

You'll be helping us create the missing link between custom timber geometry and automated production—turning complex timber designs into fully automated fabrication workflows. This is your chance to shape the future of timber construction by making high-tech fabrication more accessible, scalable, and industry-ready.

Your main assignment is to develop a Python-based parser that reads BTLX (XML) files and translates them into a sequence of timber parts and corresponding machine instructions for robotic fabrication.

BTLX files contain structured data describing machining operations, part geometries, and processing logic. Your task is to extract this information and generate executable code for our ABB robotic milling setup—turning high-level fabrication data into low-level, real-world machine movements. The ultimate goal: take a BTLX file as input and output machine-ready code that enables our robot to autonomously execute the described manufacturing steps.

This project will give you hands-on experience in:

·        Parsing and interpreting XML data structures related to timber part geometry and toolpaths.

·        Mapping fabrication logic to robotic processes.

·        Generating robotic code (RAPID) for an ABB 6-axis robot

Testing and refining your toolchain using real-world timber parts and fabrication scenarios.

Are you looking for a challenging and fun experience during your internship or graduation, then apply to the Robot Lab!

The Robot Lab is a multidisciplinary, diverse and international work environment with a strong drive to make a societal impact towards a sustainable industry. As an intern or graduation student you become a full-fledged member of a close and non-hierarchal team. We stimulate personal en professional development as well as team building. We are looking for students with a proactive and flexible attitude who like to collaborate with others in a multidisciplinary setting. As an intern you will get an allowance of 500 euros per month.