With affordable and relief housing on the brain, researchers at USC developed an enormous 3D printer capable of creating housing structures in rapid time, via mashable:
Forget waiting weeks or months for your new home to be ready. Researchers from the University of Southern California created a 3D printer that can build a 2,500 square-foot house in 24 hours.
Since 2008, Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis has led a research team in the creation and development of a new layered fabrication technology using 3D printing called Contour Crafting. Instead of using thermoplastics, a common material used in 3D printing, the robot applies layer after layer of concrete to construct straight and curved walls, as well as domes.
The process involves a giant robot with a hanging nozzle and a flexible arm on a gantry-type crane — the whole rig is known as a “contour crafter” — above the foundation. The contour crafter then proceeds to layer concrete based on a computer-generated pattern. The layers eventually take shape into walls, embedded with all the necessary conduits and passages for electricity, plumbing and air conditioning
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I notice there are lots of animations of this process, but no pictures of actual finished buildings. I think I know why. Hint: why do traditional concrete workers use molds?
I just have to wonder if this is viable in places with earthquake standards.
I notice there are lots of animations of this process, but no pictures of actual finished buildings. I think I know why. Hint: why do traditional concrete workers use molds?
Like the idea. How about road bridges etc
Does it print rebars? because I think most concrete houses have rebars.
Not everything becomes meaningful by putting ‘3D’ in front of it. This idea is a good example.