(Digital Trends, 7/12/17)
Eight scientists from Switzerland’s ETH Zurich University have embarked on a bold plan to build the next generation of construction robots, and their proof-of-concept is a first-generation robot that is actively building a 200-square-foot home on the school’s campus. The project is bringing together a suite of cutting-edge technologies including 3D printing, modular construction, and new methods of construction. The DFAB House claims to be the first house in the world to be designed, planned and built using primarily digital processes.
“Unlike construction projects that use only a single digital building technology, such as 3D printed houses, the DFAB House brings a range of new digital building technologies together. This allows us to use the advantages of each individual method as well as their synergies, and express them architecturally,” says ETH professor Matthias Kohler.
The new technologies include an invaluable new robot, the In Situ Fabicator I, which is mounted on caterpillar tracks that can fabricate dense mesh sections that act as a framework and reinforcement for poured concrete walls. This robot is dust-proof and waterproof and is internet-connected so that architects and builders can make real-time changes to the construction process at any time.