A team of Swiss scientists has been inspired by nature to develop a new construction method that can be used in disaster relief and building and maintaining structures in very hard-to-reach places like tall buildings.
The bee-inspired concept could also be used in polar regions or even extra-terrestrial environments such as Mars.
(Image credit: Yusuf Furkan KAYA, Aerial Robotics Laboratory, Imperial College London and Materials and Technology Centre of Robotics, Swiss Federal Laboratories of Material Science and Technology (Empa)
Inspired by nature
The use of 3D printing in the construction sector is becoming more and more popular these days. Static and mobile robots print materials for building projects, such as steel and concrete structures, both on the job site as well as in construction facilities.
In an attempt to approach 3D printer-assisted construction in a fresh new manner, a research team from Switzerland was inspired by nature, looking at natural builders such as wasps and bees. They called their new method Aerial Additive Manufacturing.
A scalable fleet of construction drones
The system works with a single blueprint and a fleet of fully independent drones capable of changing their building methods on the go. The fleet works on its own but is supervised by a human controller that can intervene in needed.
According to lead scientist Professor Mirko Kovac, the study has demonstrated that drones are capable of working in tandem to repair or build structures in the lab.
A timelapse light trace demonstration of multiple drones coordinating and working together.
(Image Credit: Autonomous Manufacturing Lab, UCL)
The great thing about this new method is that it is scalable and ideal for operation in hard-to-reach locations.
Testing the concept
Aerial Additive Manufacturing works with a path-planning framework to aid drones in adjusting to different types of geometry encountered during the construction process.
Their fleet is made up of so-called ''BuilDrones'', which drop materials while in the air, and quality-checking ScanDrones, which continuously monitor the output of the BuilDrones and provide information for their further production stages.
To test their idea, the team created 4 different cement mixtures for the fleet of drones to work with.
The drones continuously evaluated the printed geometry during the construction and modified their behavior to guarantee that they complied with the build requirements.
A custom BuildDrone with a delta-arm manipulator amidst the printing process. (Image Credit: Imperial College London, University college London, University of Bath)
As a result, the fleet reached a rather impressive manufacturing accuracy of 5 millimeters. (Be sure to check out the paper listed below this article for more details)
The new method has a lot of potential for effectively constructing and maintaining extremely tall buildings or otherwise difficult-to-access places.
Now that the study has finished, the team has plans to collaborate with construction firms to evaluate the ideas and offer manufacturing and maintenance capabilities.
The researchers have published their findings in a paper in the peer-reviewed journal nature. We have listed it below for those interested in more details.
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