WASP, the Italian manufacturer behind DeltaWASP 3D printers, has unveiled a new construction system which will be used to print sustainable houses in a village.
The Crane WASP, also referred to as the “the infinity 3D printer” is designed to accelerate the development of the technological village of Shamballa, a WASP project to develop 3D printed eco-friendly houses. The company states,
“Crane WASP the Infinity 3D printer reinterprets the classic building cranes from a digital manufacturing point of view. It is composed of a main printer unit that can be assembled in different configurations depending on the printing area and therefore on the dimensions of the architectural structure to be calculated in 3D.”
The village of Shamballa
Two years ago, in an effort to remedy the world’s housing issues, WASP began the development of the Shamballa project – an eco-friendly technological village in Italy built using resourceful additive manufacturing. With the creation of the BigDelta WASP, a 12 m high 3D printer, the WASP team was able to create sustainable houses with low energy consumption.
The BigDelta WASP is capable of extruding both technical (concrete) and raw materials, such as straw and terrain – a concept inspired by potter wasps, who use terrain to create mud nests. Its configuration is 7 meters wide with 6-meter modular arms. The machine components have a maximum length of 3 meters, which makes assembly and disassembly processes easy for transportation.
The Crane WASP Infinity 3D printer
With a smaller footprint than the BigDelta WASP, a single module of the Crane WASP 3D printer has a print area of 6.60 m in diameter for a height of 3 meters. This module can work self-sufficiently to print cement, bio cement, and natural dough. With the same modular mechanical components used in the Big Delta 12M aluminum structure, the Crane WASP is designed can also be dismantled and reassembled for swift transport.
Furthermore, its single module can be expanded with traverses and printer arms “generating an infinite digital manufacturing system.
“It is not necessary to ‘cover’ the entire area involved in the construction with the printing area of the WASP Cranes because they can be reconfigured and can advance with generative attitude depending on the growth and shape of the building,” stated WASP.
“More WASP Cranes, when working together, have a potentially infinite printing area and can be set by the on-site operators following the evolution of the architectural project.”
The Crane WASP will be presented to the public on October 6th and 7th in Massa Lombarda, Italy where the village of Shamballa is located.
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Featured image shows the design for the Crane WASP. Image via WASP.
