Apparently, complete automation of the building process is close to becoming a reality, as researchers from ETH Zurich University look to employ giant robots and 3D printers to build,
“the first house in the world to be designed, planned and built using predominantly digital processes.”
The DFAB House employs cutting-edge technologies that include robotic fabrication, 3D printing, and prefab construction to create a truly futuristic home.
The three-story, 656-square-foot building is being constructed with the help of researchers and business partners as part of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication project. The house will stand at NEST– research facility in Dübendorf, Switzerland which is operated by the Empa institute.
ETH professor and the project’s initiator Matthias Kohler said,
“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.”
The building is constructed by a six-foot tall robot mounted on caterpillar tracks that builds steel-wire mesh sections acting as framework and reinforcement for the concrete walls. The mesh will also be filled with a concrete mix that creates a load-bearing wall covered with a 3D-printed ceiling slab.
And there are signs that this will be a hot trend in the coming times,
“An increasing number of Swiss companies, such as Erne AG Holzbau, which is the general contractor for the DFAB HOUSE and was previously involved in building the Arch_Tec_Lab at ETH Zurich, want to proactively use the opportunities of digital technologies – something that gives us great pleasure.”
The house will be completed in summer 2018 and will be used as a residential and work space for researchers and partners of the NEST project.
Learn more about the project in the video below.
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