Download and Print Out Your House

Robot-built housing is coming. The first to be built is by Behrokh Khoshnevis at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, who will soon unleash his $1.5m (£940,000) robot. "We will be able to build curves and domes as easily as straight walls. "Your shoes, clothes and car are already made automatically, but your house is built by hand and it doesn't make sense." his system is "a fabrication process by which large-scale parts can be fabricated quickly in a layer-by-layer fashion."... "which combines ancient surface forming concepts with modern robotics technology" The researchers in Los Angeles claim their robot will be able to build the shell of a house in 24 hours. "Compared to a conventional house, the speed of construction will be increased 200-fold and the building costs will be reduced to a fifth of what they are today," said Khoshnevis.:;Watch Professor Khoshnevis's amazing powerpoint show on how it works in construction. or visit his website here

In the UK, Dr. Rupert Soar at Loughborough University's School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering is mixing his experience studying termite structures in Sub-Saharan Africa, where he saw how termites construct giant mounds by regurgitating earth in intricate designs, with a giant inkjet printer spewing building materials. According to the Times, It involves computer-controlled robotic nozzles which pipe quick-drying liquid gypsum and concrete to form walls, floors and roofs. The British system is likely to take at least a week but will include more sophisticated design features, with the computer's nozzle weaving in ducts for water pipes, electrical wiring and ventilation within the panels of gypsum or concrete. ::TimesOnline


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