Researchers in Spain have re-imagined the 3D printing of buildings by proposing wall-climbing mini-bots instead of a huge gantry to support a computerised print head.
If realised, this vision would set printed buildings free from the constraints of existing approaches to 3D printed construction – or “additive manufacturing” – in which the size of the object being printed can’t exceed the reach of the robotic arm holding the print nozzle.
Researchers at the Barcelona’s Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) set out to build a family of small, agile robots that can create structures much larger than themselves. The prototype ’bots use suction to climb vertical walls without falling off, or run around the rim of a structure, gripping the sides with clamps.
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