Robotic 3D-Printing for Building and Construction

Abstract

In existing 3D printing processes, the size of the printed object cannot be larger than that of the built chamber or of the delivery system. This makes 3D printing a priori unsuitable for large-sized projects, such as in building and construction. In this paper, we present a framework based on mobile robotics to address that issue. More precisely, we propose to mount the delivery system on multiple robotic mobile platforms endowed with localization and precise placement capabilities. Doing so allows building objects of virtually any size, without compromising printing resolution or speed. We present the overall 3D printing pipeline, from robots placement optimization to localization and mapping, to path planning, to trajectory control and execution. We discuss the difficulties arising from both the materials delivery side and the robotic side. Finally, we give details about our hardware set-up and present some preliminary results.