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Foam-Spraying Quadcopter Becomes a Flying 3D Printer

Posted by Soulskill on from the because-we-definitely-need-one-of-those dept.

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."

2 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. um by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Funny

    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!

  2. 3D Printing? by ByTor-2112 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.