5 ms·

3D Printed Houses Might be Closer Than You Thought

40 points by RaduTyrsina 14y ago

hardwear 14y ago
NY Times has a good article on this. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/garden/robots-that-build-but-still-won-t-do-windows.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/garden/robots-that-build-b...
- RaduTyrsina 14y ago
  Sure, that's NY Times after all!
- rajupp 14y ago
  Wow! Look at the date! 2004. Amazing!
AlexSerban 14y ago
When I hear the words 3D printing, it still sounds like something from a Sci-Fi movie.
TeMPOraL 14y ago
Few steps closer to nanolathing :). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanolathe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanolathe
alexhawdon 14y ago
Interesting stuff to think about but very poorly written and light on content and analysis.
- RaduTyrsina 14y ago
  That's because it's still an emerging piece of tech ;)
- rajupp 14y ago
  Yeah right, you're talking as if he invented this technology
cstross 14y ago
3D printed houses are still going to need some conventional building work -- they need stable foundations, just like any other building, which means some excavation and levelling, and piles in unstable or waterlogged ground. They need utility ducting and pipes laying, they need wiring and pipes installing after construction, and so on. They probably also need cavity wall insulation blowing in. Not to mention windows, doors, and so on. Finally, I notice that this looks to be printing in unreinforced concrete. What about some rebar for the load-bearing elements? Yes, it's a neat idea and it may save a lot of bricklaying work -- but it's not going to automate house construction 100%: not even close.
- Lambdanaut 14y ago
  In the TED talk he actually explains that wiring, plumbing and painting can be automated with his planned machine(among other processes). I think you're selling the idea short.
- polshaw 14y ago
  >I notice that this looks to be printing in unreinforced concrete. What about some rebar for the load-bearing elements? Well then you didn't watch the video in your haste to comment on it. ~5:50.
- swalsh 14y ago
  Look at this cell phone: http://netdna.webdesignerdepot.com/uploads/cellphone_design/dkmb86g_487pr55s2hc_b.jpg http://netdna.webdesignerdepot.com/uploads/cellphone_design/... Can you imagine a world where everyone has one of these in their pockets? That's ridiculous! it's the size of my forearm. It's a neat idea and it may enable faster communication - but it's not going to replace land line phones 100%: not even close.
willyt 14y ago
http://www.rsh-p.com/render.aspx?siteID=1&navIDs=1,6,12,1580 http://www.rsh-p.com/render.aspx?siteID=1&navIDs=1,6,12,... If you exclude the plumbing, electrics and foundations, houses can already easily be built in a day.
- RaduTyrsina 14y ago
  Is that wood?
  - ralfn 14y ago
    It looks like it. Building houses from wood is not very common here in Holland, but i was told that many places with the right climat and soil build using wood. I even heard that you can kick through walls in many places in the states. Blows my mind, but appearantly its common.
    - aidenn0 14y ago
      Interior walls for houses in the US are nearly universally made out of gypsum plaster attached to a wooden frame. The plaster is easy to kick or punch through (don't try this at home though, if you hit a stud, you will be unhappy). Exterior wall construction varies a lot more.
  - willyt 14y ago
    Yes. Oriented Strand Board or Plywood boards with a softwood frame. Cross laminated timber is the latest thing in wood prefab technology. http://www.klhuk.com/home.aspx http://www.klhuk.com/home.aspx http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/projects/low_impact_materials/IP17_11.pdf http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/projects/low_impact_mat...
- RaduTyrsina 14y ago
  And what about this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E76uJi744Do http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E76uJi744Do ?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
icefox 14y ago
Much more interesting to think about is what you can do that exploits the properties of this. The two big ones seems to be insane speed and curved surfaces. Could this be used to rapidly build bunkers or bridges in a war? How about rome style aquaducts to channel water from a flood or even to simply build dikes in an emergency? Maybe the speed would maybe make previous expensive projects cheap such as massive water irrigation projects. Could printing curved surfaces let you print temporary dam's? Edit: or how about printing your very own pyramid or a road?
- RaduTyrsina 14y ago
  Wow, these are really some interesting ideas, indeed! Pyramids are especially awesome because they are said to store some kind of "special" energy :)
  - icefox 14y ago
    More useful than a pyramid, how about a solar updraft tower?
brudgers 14y ago
I worked for Pulte shortly after they purchased the South Florida homebuilder Divosta. A 3d printer needs to overcome many of the same hurdles Divosta encountered. Among these is that the pace of construction is determined by capital investment in equipment and so seasonal and cyclical variations in demand cannot be accommodated efficiently by scaling capacity up or down quickly relative to conventional construction. Furthermore, the article takes a naive view of a construction schedule: "It would build the house in such a way that you’d only need to put the windows and the doors in the cutouts that have been left by the huge construction robot." If there are no windows or doors, a building isn't dried in. That means that domestic equipment and finishes (e.g. Kitchen appliances, gypsum celings, most types of flooring, and trim) are not yet installed. And the process of finishing a building takes more than half the time. Now, one might argue that the system is intended for places requiring basic shelter such as poverty stricken areas of the developing world (thereby avoiding finishes) All I can say is that the history of high tech construction systems in such places does not lead me to be optimistic. Lack of infrastructure and cheap labor tend to create market conditions favoring other approaches. Manufactured housing was an ongoing project throughout the last century, and an optimized solution was found. Unfortunately, it is the drop dead unsexy house trailer. [Edit] After watching the video, it is clear that the system requires a specialized concrete mix - one with very low slump in order that a freshly deposited layer does not just flow off the top of previously deposited layers. This makes conventional delivery via truck from batch plant more difficult. Low slump mixes tend to have proportionally shorter working times making traffic delays or delays on the construction site lead to higher waste by the mixer truck load. In addition specialized mixes require additional coordination by the batch plant. In addition, the environmental impact of concrete is high in terms of greenhouse gas emissions compared to wood or steel.
- RaduTyrsina 14y ago
  thanks for your remarks!
rizla 14y ago
Could this work in space or on other planets. I'd imagine this is the kind of tech that the military and NASA would be all over! If you could neatly pack the contents of your moon base and ship it ahead by a day. Or even the military leave this just off the coast of some less than favourable country. Great for setting up observation and living areas in hostile environments Sealab anyone? Edited: stupid iOS autocorrect

40 points by RaduTyrsina 14y ago

NY Times has a good article on this. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/garden/robots-that-build-but-still-won-t-do-windows.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/garden/robots-that-build-b...

RaduTyrsina 14y ago
Sure, that's NY Times after all!
rajupp 14y ago
Wow! Look at the date! 2004. Amazing!

AlexSerban 14y ago

When I hear the words 3D printing, it still sounds like something from a Sci-Fi movie.

TeMPOraL 14y ago

Few steps closer to nanolathing :). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanolathe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanolathe

alexhawdon 14y ago

Interesting stuff to think about but very poorly written and light on content and analysis.

RaduTyrsina 14y ago
That's because it's still an emerging piece of tech ;)
rajupp 14y ago
Yeah right, you're talking as if he invented this technology

cstross 14y ago

3D printed houses are still going to need some conventional building work -- they need stable foundations, just like any other building, which means some excavation and levelling, and piles in unstable or waterlogged ground. They need utility ducting and pipes laying, they need wiring and pipes installing after construction, and so on. They probably also need cavity wall insulation blowing in. Not to mention windows, doors, and so on. Finally, I notice that this looks to be printing in unreinforced concrete. What about some rebar for the load-bearing elements? Yes, it's a neat idea and it may save a lot of bricklaying work -- but it's not going to automate house construction 100%: not even close.

Lambdanaut 14y ago
In the TED talk he actually explains that wiring, plumbing and painting can be automated with his planned machine(among other processes). I think you're selling the idea short.
polshaw 14y ago
>I notice that this looks to be printing in unreinforced concrete. What about some rebar for the load-bearing elements? Well then you didn't watch the video in your haste to comment on it. ~5:50.
swalsh 14y ago
Look at this cell phone: http://netdna.webdesignerdepot.com/uploads/cellphone_design/dkmb86g_487pr55s2hc_b.jpg http://netdna.webdesignerdepot.com/uploads/cellphone_design/... Can you imagine a world where everyone has one of these in their pockets? That's ridiculous! it's the size of my forearm. It's a neat idea and it may enable faster communication - but it's not going to replace land line phones 100%: not even close.

willyt 14y ago

http://www.rsh-p.com/render.aspx?siteID=1&navIDs=1,6,12,1580 http://www.rsh-p.com/render.aspx?siteID=1&navIDs=1,6,12,... If you exclude the plumbing, electrics and foundations, houses can already easily be built in a day.

RaduTyrsina 14y ago
Is that wood?
- ralfn 14y ago
  It looks like it. Building houses from wood is not very common here in Holland, but i was told that many places with the right climat and soil build using wood. I even heard that you can kick through walls in many places in the states. Blows my mind, but appearantly its common.
  - aidenn0 14y ago
    Interior walls for houses in the US are nearly universally made out of gypsum plaster attached to a wooden frame. The plaster is easy to kick or punch through (don't try this at home though, if you hit a stud, you will be unhappy). Exterior wall construction varies a lot more.
- willyt 14y ago
  Yes. Oriented Strand Board or Plywood boards with a softwood frame. Cross laminated timber is the latest thing in wood prefab technology. http://www.klhuk.com/home.aspx http://www.klhuk.com/home.aspx http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/projects/low_impact_materials/IP17_11.pdf http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/projects/low_impact_mat...
RaduTyrsina 14y ago
And what about this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E76uJi744Do http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E76uJi744Do ?
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

icefox 14y ago

Much more interesting to think about is what you can do that exploits the properties of this. The two big ones seems to be insane speed and curved surfaces. Could this be used to rapidly build bunkers or bridges in a war? How about rome style aquaducts to channel water from a flood or even to simply build dikes in an emergency? Maybe the speed would maybe make previous expensive projects cheap such as massive water irrigation projects. Could printing curved surfaces let you print temporary dam's? Edit: or how about printing your very own pyramid or a road?

RaduTyrsina 14y ago
Wow, these are really some interesting ideas, indeed! Pyramids are especially awesome because they are said to store some kind of "special" energy :)
- icefox 14y ago
  More useful than a pyramid, how about a solar updraft tower?

brudgers 14y ago

I worked for Pulte shortly after they purchased the South Florida homebuilder Divosta. A 3d printer needs to overcome many of the same hurdles Divosta encountered. Among these is that the pace of construction is determined by capital investment in equipment and so seasonal and cyclical variations in demand cannot be accommodated efficiently by scaling capacity up or down quickly relative to conventional construction. Furthermore, the article takes a naive view of a construction schedule: "It would build the house in such a way that you’d only need to put the windows and the doors in the cutouts that have been left by the huge construction robot." If there are no windows or doors, a building isn't dried in. That means that domestic equipment and finishes (e.g. Kitchen appliances, gypsum celings, most types of flooring, and trim) are not yet installed. And the process of finishing a building takes more than half the time. Now, one might argue that the system is intended for places requiring basic shelter such as poverty stricken areas of the developing world (thereby avoiding finishes) All I can say is that the history of high tech construction systems in such places does not lead me to be optimistic. Lack of infrastructure and cheap labor tend to create market conditions favoring other approaches. Manufactured housing was an ongoing project throughout the last century, and an optimized solution was found. Unfortunately, it is the drop dead unsexy house trailer. [Edit] After watching the video, it is clear that the system requires a specialized concrete mix - one with very low slump in order that a freshly deposited layer does not just flow off the top of previously deposited layers. This makes conventional delivery via truck from batch plant more difficult. Low slump mixes tend to have proportionally shorter working times making traffic delays or delays on the construction site lead to higher waste by the mixer truck load. In addition specialized mixes require additional coordination by the batch plant. In addition, the environmental impact of concrete is high in terms of greenhouse gas emissions compared to wood or steel.

RaduTyrsina 14y ago
thanks for your remarks!

rizla 14y ago

Could this work in space or on other planets. I'd imagine this is the kind of tech that the military and NASA would be all over! If you could neatly pack the contents of your moon base and ship it ahead by a day. Or even the military leave this just off the coast of some less than favourable country. Great for setting up observation and living areas in hostile environments Sealab anyone? Edited: stupid iOS autocorrect