The printing "material" is essentially sand according to the article.

I wonder about long range durability. How will it stand up to weathering: to freezing, to heat, to rain and snow?

Interesting, but I would still rather have a house made out of wood.

If perfected, perhaps the technology can be adapted to be the most efficient and economical way to build structures on the Moon or Mars in the future.

Cheers

We currently have a printer that uses ABS plastic and has a .01 layer thickness. the build envolpe is only 12" high and 10" wide so it would take years to build a house but I can see this being viable in a few years. It can print anything you can create in CAD

cool stuf. Very cool stuff.

I'd heard about printers something like this... it was actually part of a package... one "scanner" to take in a 3D image of a part.. then the "printer" spits out a facsimile in PVC (I think it was PCV, I can't remember right now), and the kicker was... all the parts moved. Saw a clip from Leno's Garage about this piece of tech, he was using such things to get parts for some of his classic cars that aren't made anymore; he takes the facsimile to a metal shop and gets the part made. Rather cool, actually.

Is there a video of this thing in action?

#5 | Posted by LIVE_OR_DIE

Zara,

I wonder if these printers will become self aware and form a union.

This is process known in the engineering community as Stereolithography or sometimes more generally as 'Rapid Prototyping', and it has been commercially available, albeit on a much smaller scale, for better than 20 years now.

Note that our company actually produces software (I was the Product Manager on this project) which will interface to systems like this, of which there are several different techniques offered which uses different media to construct the final object, although this is the first time I've heard of sand being used.

For some more background on Stereolithography and the basic technology behind it, go to:

pretty cool, for sure. I wonder... can these "printers" build with more than just a single material? can they incorporate other materials so that plumbing, conduit, window/door frames are all laid down with each pass of the printer head?

One of the techniques used involves something akin to a computer controlled 'hot-glue gun' where an object is built-up by laying down beads of melted plastic, In this process different plastics with different characteristics can be used during a single build, but in the end, it's still all plastic.

Most all of the other technologies, particularly those using either powders (as seen in that video in one of the other replies) or vats of liquid photo-curing (via focused laser beams) polymers, you're stuck with only one material option for the entire process.

OCU

25 years from now they will make Human Organs for transplant with something like this I hope.

25 years from now they will make Human Organs for transplant with something like this I hope.

I think they will have one of those machines like on Fifth Element. But to be honest, I'd use it for the same purpose -- to build me my own Mila Jovavich

I'd use it for the same purpose -- to build me my own Mila Jovavich

Who would not!

So, will the wiring also be "printed" into place as well? Or, will we have to fish it all through the walls ourselves :-D