Brick-laying robot can '3D print' a home in two days
Robots can do a lot of things, from smart pills to 3D printing an entire steel bridge. This robot-powered invention from Perth, Australia's Fastbrick Robotics can lay bricks more efficiently than a team of humans, building a brick exterior of a home in just two days. It's really a giant 3D printer for homes. The creators dubbed the robot Hadrian, named after the Roman emperor who built the vast, eponymous Hadrian's Wall.
One of the benefits of using a robot is that it doesn't need to take breaks, especially in the sun-drenched heat of Australia. The machine can run nonstop, allowing it to build a home in record time. It can lay one thousand bricks every hour and could build 150 homes in a single year.
The actual robot consists of a 28m (92ft) telescopic boom that uses pressure to secrete adhesive or mortar to bricks, one at a time. As mislaid bricks could create structural weakness, the robot is precise about its construction. It works from a 3D CAD program which pre-defines the location of every brick to be laid in the structure. The robot then can cut and lay the bricks, accordingly.
The inventor, Mark Pivac, allays fears of robots taking away human jobs by noting that in his locale, the there is a drought of bricklayers as the skilled laborers are becoming aging out of the trade and there are not enough young people eager to fill their shoes. Pivac hopes the automated construction will create lower the cost of building and meet the demand for new houses.