The House That 3D Printing Built
While homes have been 3D-printed before, modularity still characterizes the technology. It means the structure is printed in parts or components separately that still need human intervention to bring together. The competition toughens up with companies working towards one-sitting construction (or printing) and eliminating modules. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT has come up with its own giant 3D printer that has built a finished structure in 14 hours.
Their giant 3D printer, called a Digital Construction Platform, is actually mobile, outfitted with tank treads. A nozzle comes out of two robotic arms atop a rover-like vehicle. A flatbed trailer is attached to the back and two big metal tanks strapped to its top. MIT claims it can build homes on this planet as well as other places in space in the far future.
Because of its long industrial robotic arm and a precision arm attached to it, the system does not have the space and speed constraints of traditional 3D printers. With a larger build space, the printer is not constrained by the limited volume of its print bed. MIT has been working on the machine since 2011 and has only recently showcased what it can do.
Filming it, the platform is seen constructing a 12-foot-high solid dome made out of a combination of foam and concrete. The final structure had spaces in its sides provided for pipes and wires for later insertion. Everything took all of under 14hrs.
MIT has ambitions to take their creation, calling it a platform rather than a 3D printer, beyond construction housing structures. They see their machine with clear biological inspiration, such as what inspires the robotic world today. They must create self-sufficient robotic systems, developed toward the design goal of being able to gather its own energy and use local materials. They want to improve on the system that can customize a build based on conditions like light and weather and can utilize its own surroundings as the basis of its structures.
Sounds Like Science-Fiction? Not in Seattle.
If you got yourself an idea, you can draw it or just want to talk it over with your 3D printing company in Seattle, drop by and let’s see. Nothing is too science-fiction for us.
