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Wouldn't it be easier to automate building using something other than brick? Probably bricklaying started because bricks were small enough a person could carry
by jqm 11y ago
Wouldn't it be easier to automate building using something other than brick? Probably bricklaying started because bricks were small enough a person could carry and lay them individually (now they are ornamental of course rather than strictly functional). With a machine there isn't the weight/size restraint of a human laborer.
I worked one summer on a concrete crew building tip up slab buildings... big structures like a Costco or trucking depot. How it worked was the foundation was poured, then the forms for the walls (one or two walls at a time) were placed on top of the foundation. A spray to prevent the concrete wall from bonding the the floor was applied, and the wall was poured directly on top of the floor and then tilted up by a crane. Then the next wall was poured on top of the floor and the process repeated. The whole system seemed much more efficient then laying blocks and a building shell could be assembled very quickly.
While a cool invention, this robot bricklayer seems something like a computerized horse carriage. It seems a paradigm shift is in order to really automate building. Poured in place concrete may be a more efficient method for automation.
- badsock 11y agoThere's a book by Stewart Brand called "How Buildings Learn", which goes into the importance of changes made after the initial construction, and how much they contribute to making buildings humane. What I took from it is: buildings are like anything, we can't just imagine them in abstract and have them turn out perfectly. Reality is messy, people are complex; there are a hundred things you can't imagine up front that need to be attended to before a building really meets the needs of its inhabitants. In that light his argument for bricks vs concrete is that bricks are very easy and low-tech to adjust after the fact. Concrete is amazingly resistant to change. Having said that, maybe we just need another set of robots for sawing up set concrete, but I'd call that a harder problem than printing it in the first place, and perhaps bricks still have a role to play in the interim.
- callesgg 11y agoThat way of building is not very fast when you have "intricate" details like rooms, windows and doors. btw for some reason people like bricks, think they look good. So i think there is a market for it. This is what you are looking for i would say, it is a robot that 3D prints houses with concrete. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SObzNdyRTBs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SObzNdyRTBs Personally i think the fastest way of building robust houses that look good without tons of human after work is with prebuilt segments. I have literally seen a concrete base on a yard on my way to work in the morning and an actual house walking back home in the evening.
- roel_v 11y agoThose took quite some time in the workshop to build before they put them on the concrete base that day...
- callesgg 11y agoThey did take some time to build obviously, but that was probably made on a assembly band or similar where they make one of those sections every minute. And if they put some nice automation systems in the shop they could probably cut that time down significantly.
- pjc50 11y agoA lot of concrete prefabricated houses were built in the UK after the war. Their history of problems would make them very unpopular for new build today. http://www.neverpaintagain.co.uk/blog/damp-in-concrete-houses/ http://www.neverpaintagain.co.uk/blog/damp-in-concrete-house...
- spacecowboy_lon 11y agoMost of them have been knocked down they are keeping a few as listed buildings in Birmingham.
- saalweachter 11y agoI suspect he was referring to non-concrete prefabs. I love a cool robot as much as the next guy, but a lot of these "building of the future" technologies act like they've won the race after the first lap. Prefab houses don't just give you the basic structure, they give you a finished house, with flooring, cabinetry, wallpaper, plumbing, electric... it's like the difference between a 3d printer that can print some of its rigid components and one that can print its servos and control circuits.
- davegardner 11y agoIn Perth the vast majority of houses are built using a double brick construction, so there's definitely a local market for this.
- michaelt 11y agoPoured in place concrete may be a more efficient method for automation. I don't know about in your country, but in the UK there was a period after the second world war when Brutalist architecture was in vogue with town planners. While it produces occasional gems, a lot of the structures and towns rebuilt in this style are unpopular. I think you'd have a much easier time selling houses that look just like normal houses, rather than selling revolutionary all-concrete houses no matter how efficient they may be to build.
- pjc50 11y agoIndeed. The UK had all-concrete "prefab" houses made of reinforced concrete slabs joined together. They had two critical problems: firstly, if water gets into the reinforcement it rots from the inside out and cannot be fixed without demolishing the house. This can make them impossible to mortgage and insure. Secondly, due to single skin they leak heat very badly. Some have been retrofitted with brick second skins for this reason.
- SturgeonsLaw 11y agoJudging by its investors I'd say in their view the fact that it uses bricks is a feature, not a bug.