Researchers in Spain have re-imagined the 3D printing of buildings by proposing wall-climbing mini-bots instead of a huge gantry to support a computerised print head.
If realised, this vision would set printed buildings free from the constraints of existing approaches to 3D printed construction – or “additive manufacturing” – in which the size of the object being printed can’t exceed the reach of the robotic arm holding the print nozzle.
Researchers at the Barcelona’s Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) set out to build a family of small, agile robots that can create structures much larger than themselves. The prototype ’bots use suction to climb vertical walls without falling off, or run around the rim of a structure, gripping the sides with clamps.
For more international stories visit the CIOB’s global construction website GCR
They are controlled by computer-aided design software (CAD) and are fed the cementitious material for squirting into place by long, flexible hosepipes.
In the process described on the project’s website, the first step is for “foundation robots” to make the footprint by printing the first 20 layers of the structure. They move according to a predefined path, either in a continuous loop, or back and forth. The robots, which are 370mm high and 350mm wide, are connected with pipes to a material supplying, controller robot.
With the base complete, “grip robots” are clamped on to build up the structure by printing more layers of material. Their nozzles can tilt to create curves in the walls.
The team claims that the grip of these ’bots is strong enough, and the curing speed of the material is fast enough, for the robots to build inward – horizontally – to make ceilings…
Read the rest of the article at GCR
