This robot can print a house in just 24 hours

Mar 30, 2017

A 3D-printed home in Russia Image: Apis

Alex Gray

Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

House-building can be an irritatingly slow process. In the US it takes six months on average to construct a home. But now a robot can assemble the basic frame of a house -- foundations, floor, walls and roof -- in a single day.

Image: Apis Cor

The San Francisco start-up behind the robot, Apis Cor, says that it is the first company to develop a mobile 3D printer able to print entire buildings.

Here's their first home going up on a site in Russia.

At 400 sq ft (38m²) the house is cosy but proves the point that fast turnaround home-building is now possible.

Image: Apis Cor

The cost of construction is about $10,000. And the buildings can be any shape, a potential boon for architects.

Such technology could help in areas with drastic housing shortages. And one American NGO, Field Ready, thinks that 3D printing could be deployed directly to disaster zones.

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