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Foam-Spraying Quadcopter Becomes a Flying 3D Printer
Zothecula writes "The swiftlet may not look much different than other little birds, but it has one unique ability – it builds its nest out of its own saliva. Inspired by the swiftlet, scientists at Imperial College London's Aerial Robotics Lab have created a robotic quadcopter that can extrude polyurethane foam while in flight. By targeting where that foam goes, it can build up simple structures, essentially becoming a flying 3D printer."
Hopefully it's more accurate than Ketchupbot was...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Just imagine the guns you could 3D print with that one.
Can I buy it with Bitcoin?
Except that, as a regular /. reader, I'm becoming a little desensitized to these things.
With this I feel now more than ever that my job isn't nearly as fun as it should be.
It needs to be patented and also be Cloud based. It also needs some sort of privacy invading feature. Facebook can then buy it for 300 billion dollars.
ok, so we're now basically calling anything that moves a robot? and anything that deposits any sort of material a 3D printer?
My ass has been 3D printing better stuff that this since the 70s. It does it totally automatically so it's the best robotic 3D printer on the market!
Why do we continue to call all of this shit "3D Printing"? Why not fabrication? And squirting foam from a drone is a long way from a "printer".
If it doesn't put ink on a piece of paper, it's NOT a printer.
...that movie "Batteries Not Included"?
"That's right...I said it."
I can 3D print my name in the snow!
So there's no bottom to the absurdity of 3D printing hype?
I guess this means seagulls use a form of 3D printing when they poop on my car?
For anyone who is into new RTS's, this is exactly the construction method portrayed in Planetary Annihilation. This effect certainly adds to the quality of the game. Here's a link. [youtube.com]. 0:11 for example. I am not an Uber Entertainment employee.
Remember Total Annihilation (now rebooted as Planetary Annihilation)? Reminds me of the concept in that game of nanolathing, ie spraying nanite construction bots to build a structure or vehicle, either from a mobile platform (vehicle, kbot or plane) or static factory.
First thing that came to mind when I saw this link was 'Singularity Sky' by Charles Stross. I'd direct anyone curious about it to look up the novel instead of me trying to explain it fully. But it's a very interesting idea that someone has came up with here. And as with any new technology like this it does have interesting possibilities. Like a flying tool kit that will make anything you'd like if you'll just tell it a story.
Polyurethane foam homes have already been built. Usually it involves a bag full of air and a coating being sprayed on the bag. Now we could do this with a hoard of quad copters. We could even hold burlap in place suspended from quad copters while special shapes were formed. Obviously foam homes are energy efficient and very low maintenance. The shock is that they can also be quite strong and wind resistant as well. The thickness of the foam shell is only limited by the dept of your wallet.
If a robot can build its own landmarks, it can help it to map it's surroundings, especially in areas dominated by organic features (forests, plains, etc.) where man made permanent structures are not present.