Now this is something that borders on genius, you can replace all the shanties in the world with something durable and useful, let alone able to go up quickly. Genius.
OUC, I thought that was part of the charm, it has texture, although I think you will have to drill studs into the walls inside to run cables and lines and pies, then finish. But I could live with the outside, paint it brown and think they are really small logs...
I think it would be pretty easy to include conduits inside the walls while it is being built -easier than with blocks, but I get your point that it does require some thought and planning for modern conveniences - just as in other types of building. The walls do have a mostly hollow center with diagonal supports. It might be filled with insulation materials, too. I wonder how well it can be scaled for larger structures.
I think it's part of the aesthetics, wouldn't take 5 minutes to have a guy with a trowel smooth the sides if desired.
Keep in mind the poverty these people live in.. when I was in Ethiopia on a UN relief mission for Kigali, Rwanda during the ethnic cleansing/genocide (US Air Force), we were backing up the C-5 we flew in on into a parking space on the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia airport tarmac. (Yes, we can put a C-5 in reverse and back it up without a Yuke... just takes a hell of a lot of fuel - probably more than the last 1000 miles of flying did). We probably weighed around 850,000 lbs at the time, so we were giving the thrust reversers (everything), plus doing a sharp turn.
There were some huts of some kind along side the taxiway.. we didn't really pay any attention to them, corrugated metal strapped on some 4x4's.. kind of looked like 2-3 stall out-houses for the airport workers we assumed - well... T/R winds at "100s of miles an hour" will certainly blow such structures over - and we did. Then out came the people.. and the children... About 10 living in each one of them actually. They were indeed for the workers, but not toilets, they were the houses for the families... I would say each one was 6 or 8 x 10 feet at the most - living next to an active taxiway servicing Lufthanse primarily with a daily jumbo jet commercial schedule.
Obviously we felt horrible when we realized what we did, but the only compensation they wanted was the lumber from our pallets we hauled the food there on - you see, the pallet wood was way better than their available replacement materials - so they went to town with some tools we gave them building some more sturdy structures that won't blow over when a jet taxis by.
I have a great photo of some kids playing marbles on the taxiway underneath the wing of a 757 as it taxied by - kids were ducking down as the GE engine rumbled over their heads.
Trust me... this is quite an improvement for the third world.
You can print it much more smoothly, but it will cost a lot more and take a lot more time. Don't hesitate to ask me about much more precise 3D printing.
I kinda like it the way it looks, OUC. Cinder blocks don't come out smooth either, unless you cover them up with something that drives up the labor cost. I'd be more interested in whether this method can easily include super insulation that would pay for the entire structure in a relatively short period.
You still need the concrete in this design. There are foam/concrete designs I saw on HGTV one day that were insulated well. Just seems like a complicated solution to a problem that already has cheaper solutions available.
We have have done MANY different types of concrete structures that integrate foam blocks or sheets with various concrete mixes,shotcrete and reinforcement types. Foam and concrete make a very quiet, energy efficient structure -but- despite becoming more cost competitive in the last few years, I don't see how they'll ever be considered "cheap". Labor isn't the problem, the non-existent inflation of the last decade has doubled or tripled material costs. The onerous green energy codes have actually made concrete homes more cost competitive and they will definitely long outlast wood homes.Factory built modular housing (unmodified) is pretty hard to beat for low prices.
I suppose its pretty much dependent on what you want in a house. Security, low cost, durability, etc. I currently live in a poured concrete house, with internal metal beamed walls with insulation. I doubt it was cheaper. It stays warm by itself for about 3 days when winter temps kick in, and stays cool for about 3 days when summer heat kicks in. Building codes dont like poured concrete in Las Vegas, except for very stringent commercial structures. For what its worth, I would never build another house in Las Vegas because of the codes.
I would have to add that the texture is most likely part of their R&D process. The concrete flows out under extruded pressure and therefore may seek pressure equilibrium as it lays, thus arriving at the shape.
If they're interested in smoothing it over, they'll figure it out. Perhaps some sort of shaping components immediately after the extrusion head.
I have a feeling they may have gone down that path and found two major advantages to that textured approach: 1) Less cost to build the house: Just a spray head and no complicated shaping equipment to maintain. 2) The acoustics inside such a house would have more echo if everything were smooth. With the present log-like appearance, the interior is probably quieter with less echo.
I like the idea. My biggest concern would lie in the necessity for a perfectly stable exterior to support the 3D printer hardware. 24 hours to build the house is fantastic, but what would happen if the ground were soft (squishy) or unstable (sandy soil)?
I have a feeling they're well on their way to settling those matters too.
Wouldn't want anything to interfere with the profitable and happy building industry that has managed to avoid any significant advancement in 100 years. If there was a cheaper way to build it could reduce bankster profits and lower property taxes.
Bumped you back up..+1 You said a mouthfull...now swallow and realize they got a loooooong way to go before that happens...but I hope it does sooner or later.
We don't want cookie cutter collectivist housing...if they don't improve and do it on the Free market...that is what we will get. I shudder to think!
Thanks, OUC;^) Bump back at ya. I love the idea of robots in housing construction. Knock the price down by 50% and I might even buy something (if I could find a place that I can tolerate the government looting;^)
normally, I would agree.. but for the NGO's trying to do this in the third world, getting the building materials, nuts, bolts, hardware, etc.. onto the site is almost impossible with the local theft, the government corruption, etc..
Odds are, they can probably shrink the machine down to something that would fit in the back of a truck, just drive it off the dock to the site, hook it up to a cement bag and start pumping. The goal is to probably take out the middle man.
The $10,000 obviously isn't for the materials, it's probably estimated wear and tear, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation on the equipment per-use (which probably costs in the millions).
We saw that theft and government corruption in Puerto Rico, the government took everything we sent to fix the electrical infrastructure and warehoused it. Trump admin caught wind of it and sent in troops to break in the warehouse and give the supplies to the contractors and "Wala!" 80% of the island had electricity in days...
Yes how many Puerto Ricans died because power was not restored for months. Maybe the socialist democrat leaders on the Island will be voted out. If not . it's hard to have a lot of sympathy.
True enough- in the USA concrete structures would have to include rebar in carefully regulated ways. Prefab panels made in a factory seems to me to be more practical. Especially since housing doesnt last that long, and probably doesnt need to given the collapse of civilization thats coming.
Personally, I like this idea, for a quick and easy way to provide shelter in emergencies and for poor areas, but I also like what has happened with Quonset huts, there are some spectacular houses I have seen for less than 30K put up weather tight, and you finish.
The article talks about "the most commonly used material on Earth," but never says what it is. Cement? Brick making clay? If the former, that takes a lot of energy to produce. If the latter, the quality and content varies widely from place to place.
I would bet a monolithic house, using balloon forms and spray on cement, is cost competitive. The monolithic house is also more wind and weather resistant. Here in Oklahoma, the dome-shaped monolithic structures are becoming popular, as they make excellent tornado shelters.
One thing I have never understood is the design of houses in the midwest. The dome home design seems tailor made for barns and houses, with steel shutters for entrances and windows, and let the tornado skip over it. I told my wife that was what I would build, but she says nope, west of the Cascades is it.
Most tornado damage can be reduced or eliminated with the use of hurricane straps on the house frame, and steel shutters, but I rarely see builders offering those features. When we were planning on moving out here, my wife did consider an underground home, but it was too small. We installed a tornado shelter, but we seem to be in a low risk area, and have only even gone into the shelter once, briefly, in the eight years we've had it.
From some of the stories I have seen on Weather channel, they did a bunch of research on houses and the theories that open windows equalize pressure and that did not pan out, it almost guarranteed total destruction. Just from the high winds in the instants during the passing, and the wind driven debris damage, I would say you really need something armored to survive a direct hit. But there was a video of a round concrete dome home, in a development that did take a direct hit a years or 2 ago, and it was intact, while only kindling surrounded it.
Here is some stuff I found looking for the article:
Seems like you could do the same thing and just as cheaply with cinder blocks.....which can also be made on site from concrete and you don't need some fancy robot on site with the entourage of highly skilled workers needed to support it. Send in the same amount of skilled Masons in and they could build that from cinder blocks in the same time.
My father built his last house in Biloxi MS, in 2008 or so, and it stood up to Katrina with no problems, and was really nice inside. Internal ducting designed into the overall wall/ceiling design and it all bolted together. Pricey though....
Does anyone know what the maximum home footprint is for the Vulcan printer? And I'm assuming that this doesn't include windows or wiring or the roofing? More details please on a brilliant idea!
Nice idea, set up the big ol 3d printer and just make it and keep crawling, except they would just drive Mad Max looking trucks into it and knock holes in it.
How in the h* can that be?! What do they do? Pour some cement in a mixture,push a button , and have a machine press the wet cement in between boards to make walls, and a floor? (Don't try to tell me that a cement roof could be made that way, even if it were part of the house, it would have to be made separately.
I wasnt real impressed, since most of the expensive things still have to be made the conventional way.
I still think that prefab modular panels would be cheaper, easier to contruct on site, and could contain piping and electrical inside it on a production line.
When are they going to figure out how to align each pass to make the sides SMOOTH?
We'll give em a break but get on the stick guys...your fallin behind the improvement curve here.
No offense Nick, just the way I see this one...Not ready for prime time yet.
The walls do have a mostly hollow center with diagonal supports. It might be filled with insulation materials, too.
I wonder how well it can be scaled for larger structures.
Keep in mind the poverty these people live in.. when I was in Ethiopia on a UN relief mission for Kigali, Rwanda during the ethnic cleansing/genocide (US Air Force), we were backing up the C-5 we flew in on into a parking space on the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia airport tarmac. (Yes, we can put a C-5 in reverse and back it up without a Yuke... just takes a hell of a lot of fuel - probably more than the last 1000 miles of flying did). We probably weighed around 850,000 lbs at the time, so we were giving the thrust reversers (everything), plus doing a sharp turn.
There were some huts of some kind along side the taxiway.. we didn't really pay any attention to them, corrugated metal strapped on some 4x4's.. kind of looked like 2-3 stall out-houses for the airport workers we assumed - well... T/R winds at "100s of miles an hour" will certainly blow such structures over - and we did. Then out came the people.. and the children... About 10 living in each one of them actually. They were indeed for the workers, but not toilets, they were the houses for the families... I would say each one was 6 or 8 x 10 feet at the most - living next to an active taxiway servicing Lufthanse primarily with a daily jumbo jet commercial schedule.
Obviously we felt horrible when we realized what we did, but the only compensation they wanted was the lumber from our pallets we hauled the food there on - you see, the pallet wood was way better than their available replacement materials - so they went to town with some tools we gave them building some more sturdy structures that won't blow over when a jet taxis by.
I have a great photo of some kids playing marbles on the taxiway underneath the wing of a 757 as it taxied by - kids were ducking down as the GE engine rumbled over their heads.
Trust me... this is quite an improvement for the third world.
Cinder blocks don't come out smooth either, unless you cover them up with something that drives up the labor cost.
I'd be more interested in whether this method can easily include super insulation that would pay for the entire structure in a relatively short period.
If they're interested in smoothing it over, they'll figure it out. Perhaps some sort of shaping components immediately after the extrusion head.
I have a feeling they may have gone down that path and found two major advantages to that textured approach:
1) Less cost to build the house: Just a spray head and no complicated shaping equipment to maintain.
2) The acoustics inside such a house would have more echo if everything were smooth. With the present log-like appearance, the interior is probably quieter with less echo.
I like the idea. My biggest concern would lie in the necessity for a perfectly stable exterior to support the 3D printer hardware. 24 hours to build the house is fantastic, but what would happen if the ground were soft (squishy) or unstable (sandy soil)?
I have a feeling they're well on their way to settling those matters too.
You said a mouthfull...now swallow and realize they got a loooooong way to go before that happens...but I hope it does sooner or later.
We don't want cookie cutter collectivist housing...if they don't improve and do it on the Free market...that is what we will get.
I shudder to think!
Bump back at ya.
I love the idea of robots in housing construction. Knock the price down by 50% and I might even buy something (if I could find a place that I can tolerate the government looting;^)
Was hoppin the prices would go back up to cover my investment...
Odds are, they can probably shrink the machine down to something that would fit in the back of a truck, just drive it off the dock to the site, hook it up to a cement bag and start pumping. The goal is to probably take out the middle man.
The $10,000 obviously isn't for the materials, it's probably estimated wear and tear, maintenance, repairs, and depreciation on the equipment per-use (which probably costs in the millions).
Trump admin caught wind of it and sent in troops to break in the warehouse and give the supplies to the contractors and "Wala!" 80% of the island had electricity in days...
Not word one in the lamestream...
https://www.amazon.com/Creature-Jekyl...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
The MSM hate this book and revile its author. Sound like any other author you know?
So much for my Jurassic genius, though.
My aging dino mind keeps forgetting that I want to read that book.
(don't mind me, just feelin silly today...)
I would bet a monolithic house, using balloon forms and spray on cement, is cost competitive. The monolithic house is also more wind and weather resistant. Here in Oklahoma, the dome-shaped monolithic structures are becoming popular, as they make excellent tornado shelters.
Here is some stuff I found looking for the article:
http://www.monolithic.org/homes/featu...
http://disastersafehomes.com/lessons....
Hasten, Jason, fetch the basin.
Pour some cement in a mixture,push a button , and
have a machine press the wet cement in between
boards to make walls, and a floor? (Don't try to tell me that a cement roof could be made that way, even if it were part of the house, it would have to be made separately.
I still think that prefab modular panels would be cheaper, easier to contruct on site, and could contain piping and electrical inside it on a production line.