And the house will still cost $1 million.
A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
61–70 of 89 posts
Re: A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
#62Hm. A whole house, except the flooring, walls, wiring, plumbing, windows, roofing, lighting, heck anything but the bare frame and walls. You can already do that, prefab, in a few hours. This is custom, but so is prefab. The problem is the usual: a single material isn't enough to make anything but the simple constructs. Almost everything is complex these days. Materials Science hasn't been a science for a century for…
Prefab needs a factory to make the prefab sections. Also, you can lay down multiple materials by making the head swappable. I would also say plumbing and electrics are nowhere near as complex as they used to be. Everything is available as clip-on fittings these days, which is perfect for automation.
> Prefab needs a factory to make the prefab sections.
Why do you think one or more significantly smaller printers couldn't be used as an on-site prefab factory? That seems like a much more reasonable way to approach this problem.
Re: A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
#63Sigh, if this guy had an actual 3D printer he would realize those doors and windows are a no-go :-) More seriously, there are unsolved issues in printing unsupported structures, the current best solution is a second 'support' material that can be dissolved/blown away once the part is completed but that rules out voids which are part of what you hope to make with this sort of thing. Also as others point out this is ju…
Just read the info on the "Why Blu" page as the photos look intriguing, but as soon as the page mentioned "pre-fab", it became a non-start for me in the SoCal market. The problem is that pre-fabricated or pre-manufactured homes are a very specific category of homes and require specific disclosures when selling and financing. It's basically a derogatory term used to describe cheaply built structures that are a step ab…
That's a shame, because some pre-fabricated houses are very high quality. See, for example the Huf Haus in an episode of the UK show "Grand Designs".
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/episode-gui...
> Revisit: Walton, 2008
> Kevin revisits David and Greta Iredale, who replaced their original house which they designed and built themselves with a German built, precision engineered Huf Haus.
> Esher, 2004
> Kevin McCloud follows a couple who have built houses before, but never on this scale. Their new 'Huf Haus' is designed and made in Germany but delivered for assembly in Surrey.
Re: A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
#64Obviously this technology isn't ready for prime-time yet. But there is no compelling reason why it shouldn't be able to compete with prefabbed housing. In any way, this 3D-printer collaborates with prefabbed parts, so you can combine custom or tricky bits with prefabbed parts for the easier portions.
Where I see additional advantages is complicated buildings, for example pig stables where you want hundreds of bays, and maybe special channels for herding pigs etc.
Also for larger settlements once the robot is on-site it can just keep on going while the logistics train is a lot simpler than if they had to coordinate all the different types of parts.
Re: A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
#65Wonder how building's made like this can withstand the cold. In Canada or northern US we do not construct houses and building the same way that southern countries do. For example, exterior walls are 1' wide with an R value of close to 30, most houses have a basement that is below the freezing line, etc.
Foundation work won't change. You'll have to have digging equipment and lay concrete/masonry blocks for the base so this equipment can be used to print the rest of the house. The fun part of course will be how easy it is to position one of these house printers where you have a 7+% grade.
Another thing too. How does one recover if the printer screws up or worse yet the program loaded is the wrong one or somehow corrupted? That could generate a whole house's worth of concrete waste.
Re: A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
#66now if there were a printer that could print a 5000 sq feet lot for the house, with all the building permits approved, kickbacks/bribes/political donations paid and utilities connected...
The 3D printed houses will be a life-saver on Moon and Mars though.
Re: A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right, because that cost is a bigger imposition on the family than dying. As my dad has had cancer twice and beat cancer twice so far, I am very thankful for those expensive cancer treatments. Keep them coming please.
How does your dad afford it, if I may ask? People buying your apps? Can't you see that these miracles may as well not exist for many families, or that by pursuing them at all costs they set themselves up for poverty? I don't deny your experience, but I don't think you should assume it is automatically applicable to anyone else.
Mostly though he's had to delay his retirement significantly due to huge medical expenses he and my mom have been unlucky enough to have to deal with over the years. They have spent more money on healthcare than most people could even imagine. I think their insurance, not counting out of pocket costs, just premiums (now that they both have bad pre-existing conditions) in some years have been over 20k a year.
Yes, some of these treatments are really expensive. You have to also realize that these treatments are really expensive to develop. Why should I expect incredibly smart and highly specialized people to give away their time for free? It takes huge amounts of resources to solve a problem like cancer.
I promise you I understand the problems caused by the cost of healthcare as much as or more than most people. That being said, the option to be poor and alive is still much better than being dead. You can always come back from being poor.
Re: A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
#68now if there were a printer that could print a 5000 sq feet lot for the house, with all the building permits approved, kickbacks/bribes/political donations paid and utilities connected... The 3D printed houses will be a life-saver on Moon and Mars though.
Or for regional/rural areas, building stalls for animals or shelters or even simple holiday houses. Or emergency or refugee accommodation.
Re: A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
#69You'll notice a whole lot of hand waving around auxiliary issues like wiring and painting. Solvable yes, but projects in their own right.
Biggest point he makes is around the danger. It's also why autonomous cars might take off incredibly quick. Once the lawsuits start rolling in by people hurt/killed by people driving cars large companies will have to go autonomous pretty quick.
Re: A Printer That Can Print a 2,500 Square Foot House in 20 Hours
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pex pipe [1] might be a better choice than PVC because of its high pressure tolerance and the fact that it isn't brittle/prone to cracking. It does require nonstandard tools to work with though (ie. burly pipe cutters, special fittings, etc.) But your point still stands. A master plumber might not be required for every part of every job today. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-linked_polyethylene
Thanks for the correction with regards to material. I do tech/IT by day, but have a welding certification as well. Its extremely easy to braize copper tubing together for plumbing once you've practiced, but feels like its work that isn't necessary when there are easier ways to do it (ie the pex pipe you suggested). Coincidently, I'm replacing two toilets in my home tonight. Wish me luck!
Good luck. Replacing toilets is surprisingly straightforward, just need the $2 wax ring.