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Despite recent advancements in robotics for autonomous operations in unstructured environments, their use in construction has been mostly limited to executing predefined plans. However, the unpredictable nature of construction sites and potential errors in planning necessitate higher adaptability in the execution setup to accommodate on-the-fly adjustments or reconfiguration of elements.

Human-in-the loop fabrication workflows are particularly well-suited to address these challenges by blending the flexibility and intuition of humans with the precision of robots, creating a powerful partnership. For instance, this can enable humans to intervene in order to mitigate material uncertainties and positioning misalignments. Nevertheless, the interaction modalities between humans and machines typically require both actors to work in close proximity within hazardous environments posing safety risks and logistical difficulties. Moreover, the task of instructing the robots to make changes is challenging due to the scale of the structures being fabricated and the unintuitive robotic constraints. This work proposes a novel, hybrid synergetic workflow that enhances human-robot interaction (HRI) to support dynamic and reconfigurable fabrication processes. Humans can intervene remotely in the fabrication process by modifying a scaled-down version of the structure, thereby enabling more intuitive and safe adjustments in the building process. This method is particularly interesting as a method of intervention for high-risk fabrication workflows, or intervention in damaged structures to keep the human operator at a safe distance.

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 The actions taken on the scaled physical model are recognized and processed with a custom computational tool that maps them to executable tasks for the collaborative robotic setup. This interaction method provides a hands-on medium for non-experts and establishes a communication protocol with the robotic setup outside of the construction zone. As such, our approach aims to lower the barrier for engagement with robotic construction processes and minimize safety risks when working in construction sites.