Spotlight on research with robots “Thelma and Louise”
April 17, 2025
For those who may not have met them, Thelma and Louise are robots in Room 208, used for research by the Carleton Sensory Architecture and Liminal Technologies Laboratory (CSALT).
Provided through a partnership with ABB Robotics Canada, the lab’s cobots — collaborative robots — are miniature versions of the robotic arms already employed in automobile manufacture. Students at the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism are using them to explore potential new building technologies.
Their experiments have caught the attention of Carleton University’s Department of Communications, which has published a story about their activities. Read the article by writer Dan Rubinstein here: Carleton’s Collaborative Robots Represent the Future of Construction.
Associate Professor Sheryl Boyle, director of CSALT, observes that while integrating new technologies into construction is slow, “there are many ways we can advance the industry and make it more efficient.”
The need for sustainable construction, adaptive reuse, demand for housing, and a reduced trades workforce all support the adoption of effective modern building methods.
The 2025 CSALT team includes architecture PhD students Kristine Prochnau and Sharmeen Dafedar, master’s students Sam Lane-Smith, Adonis Lau, Catalin Bacalu, and Mikhala Gibson, and BAS students Oscar Werlich, Oshan Tan, Blanche Baylosis, Vivian Ma, Salma Ibrahim, and Gail Cardoza. It also includes industrial design student Najah Islam.
