System can 3-D print an entire building

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a prototype robot with a built-in 3D printer capable of "printing" entire buildings. "In the future, we will get something completely autonomous, which can be sent to the Moon, Mars or Antarctica, where it will simply come out and erect these buildings in a few years," said Project Manager Stephen Keating.

The system is a crawler, on which a huge robotic manipulator is mounted. The robot-builder lays the basic structure on the basis of which it is possible to erect a whole building, hitech.vesti.ru reports.

Thus, within the test, the walls of the dome 15 meters in diameter and 3.65 m in height were printed. Spraying the insulation foam, the system coped with the work in 14 hours. Then the workers had only to pour the concrete into the ready-made form.

According to Keating, the robot produces basic structures faster and cheaper than the traditional way. In addition, the system can be adapted to the requirements of a particular construction site and the wishes of the customer.

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