14 DAY TRIAL // Building homes is something that usually takes months or years, and a lot of vehicles, fuel and manpower. 3D printing technology has promised to change this though, and global construction company Skanska wants to help bring that change about.
Being one of the first names to embark on this so-called quest and being at the money-making and fame-acquiring forefront of the movement was no doubt a factor in the decision as well. After all, nothing gets you fame quite like being acknowledged as a pioneer.
Skanska has formed a partnership with Loughborough University from the United Kingdom to develop a 3D concrete printing robot.
This robot would then become the flagship product in Skanksa's new method for getting things done all across the world.
The plan
Skanska and UK’s Loughborough University, as well as a consortium of partners, will enhance the labs of the university and help extend the work outside of them, all the way to the streets.
The university has already set up the Innovative Manufacturing and Construction Research Centre, called IMCRC for short.
In fact, the IMCRC team has been involved in the development of 3D printing technologies for working with concrete since way back in 2007.
There is only so much that an idea can do on its own though. Resources need to be added to the equation, and that's where Skanska figures in.
The ultimate goal of the alliance is to produce a robot capable of printing concrete structures, both simple and sophisticated. The robot will then be used in more or less any construction work.
Buchan Concrete, ABB, Lafarge Tarmac, and Foster + Partners architect and design firms will become the supply chain for the concrete 3D printing robot. They will also contribute with knowledge and expertise in precast techniques, ABB, robotics and control systems.
All in all, we're looking at a very expansive, very involved project. It's no wonder that the IMCRC team is calling the initiative the “Freeform Project.”
How the robot will do its job
Through a variation of fused deposition modeling. In a nutshell, it will deposit concrete layer by layer into shapes dictated by a 3D model, via a computer-controlled printer nozzle held by a gantry and robotic arm. A Freeform printer has already been used to produce the prototypes you see in the attached gallery.
Real world projects might be set into motion within the next year and a half if things go well. That is the hope of the people involved in IMCRC’s Freeform Project.
