3D printed homes in a day
Printer-friendly versionProfessor Behrokh Khoshnevis from The University of Southern California is testing a process called Contour Crafting, which is a way of 3D printing homes. It's basically a robot that extrudes concrete to provide the frame for a building. The process begins by printing hollow walls that are then filled with a solid wall of concrete for maximal structure. From there, human workers complete the home by hanging doors, installing windows, laying flooring, etc...
There is a long list of benefits. Dr Khoshnevis first started work on this project when repairing his walls after the 1994 Northridge California earthquake. Creating a safe home might have been the start, but replacing slums are an added benefit, along with decreasing overall costs and, of course, providing CAD type design so buyers can customize designs to their taste. Looking far forward, NASA is looking to adapt this technology for use on other planets.
Check MSN's article for a better overview. Freshome's article includes Dr Khoshnevis' TEDx video.
MSN Innovation UK | via Freshome
Interested in the social impact of our future advancements, Daryl developed and built Regarding Tomorrow as a platform to share and discuss our collective hopes and fears of the future. Daryl's background is in education, including graduate studies in special needs and a masters in instructional technology from UVA's Curry School of Education. He has worked as a high school teacher and has over 10 years of university experience in the US and Canada.