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MIT Creates 3D-Printing Robot That Can Construct a Home Off-Grid In 14 Hours (mit.edu)
Kristine Lofgren writes: Home building hasn't changed much over the years, but leave it to MIT to take things to the next level. A new technology built at MIT can construct a simple dome structure in 14 hours and it's powered by solar panels, so you can take it to remote areas. MIT's 3D-printing robot can construct the entire basic structure of a building and can be customized to fit the local terrain in ways that traditional methods can't do. It even has a built-in scoop so it can prepare the building site and gather its own construction materials. You can watch a video of the 3D-printing robot in action here.
Maybe that's a home in a third world country, but it's fucking garbage anywhere else.
Apis Cor companys presentation (http://apis-cor.com/en/about/news/first-house) from last year seemed more impressive.
(https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/03/10/2255217/3d-printed-house-constructed-on-site-in-one-day)
Or am I missing something?
It can create the foam structure in about 14 hours. Then you have to insert your electric wiring and plumbing, then you have to pour over concrete and let it cure - a process that takes ~30 days.
From the pictures it seems like the thing is stationary with a fairly 'short' arm so you'll be limited by the actual 'size' of the robot, a small igloo-type structure is all it seems to be capable of (although longer arms are probably feasible, they would obviously increase the base cost).
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This was a much better presentation of the same principle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
The problem is not building a cheap house, the problem is finding somewhere to put it.
In my country (Australia) countless thousands of acres have been rezoned as "Farming" which means that it is illegal to build on less than 100 acres. The Real Estate Developers have bribed the corrupt councils to pass thousands of regulations which make it impossible to build, and instead force people to buy land in their ticky-tacky developments.
We have the lowest population density in the world, and the highest house prices.
give me a helper that can use a tape measure, circular saw, and nailgun and we'll build you something 10 times as nice in 4 hours. hide your face MIT, this is cringe-worthy.
The basic structure is the fastest/cheapest part of building a house (and likely cheaper then this will ever be). It's all the rest of that takes time and money.
You can also do it by hand, rather then hauling some expensive machine around that will be stolen from
deployed to remote regions, for example in the developing world, or to areas for disaster relief after a major storm or earthquake
also
to provide durable shelter rapidly.
What's wrong with tents and cots? Yes I've slept in a tent in the winter in Canada.
Stick it on wheels and have it autonomously print the foam structure for a house foundation ready to pour concrete and I'm interested. It may not be cheaper, but quicker for mass production of subdivisions.
and we will totally colonize Mars now. Elon Musk will pack a 14-hour MIT 3D printer to 3D print his retirement condo on Mars. Totally gonna happen.
We don't have the Concorde anymore and the only technology that has improved in the last half-century is information processing, but we're totally gonna be a multi-planet species.
I read about it.
Eventually these smart kids will figure on putting more than one arm on the thing and cutting the build time in 1/2, 1/4, etc. As well as allowing them to do more than just one shape.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
There are no foundations, no weatherproofing, nothing apart from the foam's natural adhesion to keep it in place. To claim this as some sort of "progress" fails to recognise that a few people could erect a similar sized tent in much less time.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Home and office builders and trades people are on the list of occupations about to vanish.
All of that implies a team of builders turning up to finish what the robot started. And that kind of begs the question how much benefit was derived from hauling out a giant robot arm and tanker of foam in the first place. Building techniques such as insulated concrete formwork is already a thing and does more or less the same thing except to any shape and to a better finish.
but I know this isn't a solution until it is cheaper than other building methods. I worked on a 3D concrete printer, and it was nearly six times more expensive than insulated concrete forms which were better than the 3D printer, so I'm skeptical.
Cost was clearly not a factor. If it were they wouldn't have added a useless solar panel barely big enough to power a hair dryer.
wouldn't it be great to be able to get some land, build a "starter house", make some kids, build a new bigger one with more bedrooms, kick kids out to college, demo and build a smaller house better suited for retirement..
if you like your neighborhood you can keep it :)
For some over sized masters level project that quite frankly isn't worth the time of day to anyone but the person who dreamed it up (nutty professor), the grad student who scratched the professor's itch, and the googly eyed parents who are sharing the video link to all their buddies on Facebook.
Caution: Contents under pressure
where is this for ? If it is for disaster relief it seems to me there would be no shortage of labor, send them something they can use to make their own houses. If it is for some distant planet then make a cave build-out robot.
Nullius in verba