Skip to main content

MIT built a robot that can 3D print an entire building in about 14 hours

System can 3-D print an entire building
Never short of an innovative idea or two, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a new robotic system capable of 3D printing an entire building.

The system involves a tracked vehicle that carries a giant robot arm with a smaller precision-motion arm at one end, able to extrude concrete or spray insulating material. It also has additional digital fabrication end effectors, such as a milling head.

“For this project, we designed a robotic system that’s mobile so that it can go on site, gather its own energy through photovoltaics, and gather its own material to carry out fabrication using local materials like compressed earth or even ice,” Steven Keating, a mechanical engineering graduate who worked on the project, told Digital Trends. “Most importantly, we wanted to make sure that this could integrate into a construction site tomorrow — and would have incredible benefits compared to regular construction techniques.”

These benefits are numerous. For one thing, it can produce structures faster and cheaper than traditional construction methods. It could also be used to make more customized creations, based both on the local materials available and environmental conditions.

“One of the things we’re most excited about is being able to gather environmental data and use this to design on the fly,” Keating said. “If you look at nature, each structure is adapted to its environment. In the future, we imagine that we could use sensors to determine things like ground condition and use all of this information to optimize a design — from thermal sensors to figure out where the floor insulation should go, to solar sensors to work out where the windows should be located.”

This construction process could lead to interesting unique structures, such as curved walls on a building to help it withstand strong winds or certain walls which more insulated than others according to outside temperatures.

Possible applications for the robot 3D printer could include anything from rapid construction of new houses in disaster areas to the promise of building in space at some point.

For now, though, you will have to be satisfied with a proof-of-concept build carried out by the researchers, in which they used the technology to 3D print the basic structure of a 50-foot-diameter, 12-foot-high dome. Total print time? Just 14 hours.

While that is certainly impressive, however, not every aspect of the 3D-printing work is easy.

“One challenge when you’re working on large-scale is that everything becomes a lot bigger in terms of effort,” Keating concluded. “If you want to do a quick test print with a small 3D printer, you can easily do 10 of them in a day. With this, even a single test is a big process. For example, the dome that we created is thousands of pounds of material. Just taking that down is an enormous challenge.”

Time for a deconstruction robot, perhaps?

Editors' Recommendations

Luke Dormehl
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
NASA is testing a 3D printer that uses moon dust to print in space
The Redwire Regolith Print facility suite, consisting of Redwire's Additive Manufacturing Facility, and the print heads, plates and lunar regolith simulant feedstock that launches to the International Space Station.

The Redwire Regolith Print facility suite, consisting of Redwire's Additive Manufacturing Facility and the print heads, plates, and lunar regolith simulant feedstock that launches to the International Space Station. Redwire Space

When a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) this week, it carried a very special piece of equipment from Earth: A 3D printer that uses moon dust to make solid material.

Read more
The best 3D printers under $500
3D printers are finally affordable. Here are the best models under $500
anycubic photon review 3d printer xxl 2

The 3D printing market has seen quite a few changes over the last few years. In just the span of a decade, the barrier to entry has dropped from well over several thousand dollars to under $200 in some cases. However, all entry and mid-level printers are not made equal. We have a few suggestions for prospective buyers and other information regarding alternatives not found on this list.

To some veterans of the 3D printing scene, this list may seem like it lacks a few of the most commonly recommended printers for newcomers. This is by design. Our list only considers printers with tested components from proven, reliable vendors. That's why we chose the Monoprice MP Mini v2 as our top pick--it's reliable and easy to use. We have avoided any printer with a frame primarily made from interlocking acrylic pieces and anything historically unreliable.
Most bang for your buck: Monoprice MP Mini v2
 
Pros:

Read more
Ceramic ink could let doctors 3D print bones directly into a patient’s body
ceramic ink 3d printed bones bioprinting australia 2

Scientists use a novel ink to 3D print ‘bone’ with living cells

The term 3D bioprinting refers to the use of 3D printing technology to fabricate biomedical parts that, eventually, could be used to create replacement organs or other body parts as required. While we’re not at that point just yet, a number of big advances have been made toward this dream over the past couple of decades.

Read more