After all of the house printing stories we’ve been reporting this year, you’d expect all house printers to be giant gantry systems. The Minibuilders, however, are small enough to play live action Doozers. Each one has its own specialty and, with power in numbers, these tiny robots could be capable of constructing entire buildings.
In the family of Minibuilders, each mobile 3D printer accomplishes a different part of the building process. First, the Foundation Robot extrudes the first layers of a print to establish the structure’s base.
Next, a Grip Robot clamps onto the top layer of the building’s foundation, laying down the majority of the inner edifice.
Finally, a Vacuum Robot suctions onto the side of the structure, laying down an outer layer of concrete for a final layer of insulation and support.
The researchers behind the Minibuilders, hailing from the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) in Spain and sponsored by Social Discovery Ventures in Russia, describe their motivation in this way:
The objective was to develop a family of small scale construction robots, all mobile and capable of constructing objects far larger than the robot itself. Moreover, each of the robots developed was to perform a diverse task, linked to the different phases of construction, finally working together as a family towards the implementation of a single structural outcome. Hence, instead of one large machine, a number of much smaller robots working independently, but in coordination, towards a single goal.
Such a team of 3D printing construction bots has been conceived of before. Prof. Behrokh Khoshnevis, head of Contour Crafting at USC, has worked up many diagrams of multiple mobile 3D printers of varying configurations that might build structures using similar methods as the one discussed here. However, the Minibuilders project is, as far as I know, the first endeavour to actually execute such an idea.
Enough of my dumb words, watch these awesome little guys in action:
The website says that a full documentary on the project will be released soon, which I’m excited for, not just to see more of the family of 3D printing robots, but for the unlimited marketing possibilities: plush Foundation Bots, Grip Bot decals, and Vacuum Bot vacuums. Seriously, though, this is exciting stuff!
Source: IAAC
