News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
CyBe Construction, a Dutch specialist in concrete 3D printing, has been selected as the technology provider for a 3D printed house project in the UAE. The house will be built as part of the Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park (SRTI Park) initiative which aims to 3D print a series of buildings in the area with the goal of transforming the city of Sharjah into an architectural hub.
Throughout history, many Italian geniuses did not reap the benefits of their inventions. Just think of Galileo, excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church for having understood the motion of planets. Or more recently Meucci who invented the telephone only to have Graham Bell obtain the patent and build an empire with it. Many great visionaries had to leave Italy — and continue to have to leave Italy — to find someone willing to finance their ventures, starting with Columbus, who turned to the queen of Spain in order to set sail on the voyage that would lead to the Americas. The story of Enrico Dini, the man who invented the idea of 3D printing concrete houses by binder jetting, is in many ways a modern version of these: a modern odyssey for the future of construction, one that shares some similarities with these great stories.
Following a spate of horrific vehicle-related terror incidents around the world in recent years, there has been a growing effort to find effective yet subtle ways to protect pedestrians in busy areas. In London, following the London Bridge attack in 2017, conspicuous metal and concrete barriers were installed on the city’s main bridges. Though effective, they are not the most elegant solution and have drawn their fair share of criticism. In New York City’s Times Square, designer Joe Doucet recently introduced an alternative protective barrier, that blends into the urban setting.
A couple of weeks ago, a Dutch 3D printing startup named Concr3de came onto our radar when it demonstrated how its unique stone additive manufacturing technology could reproduce a damaged piece of Notre-Dame de Paris using materials sourced from the cathedral’s burnt and damaged structure.
After 30 hours of 3D printing over four days of head-to-head competition, NASA and partner Bradley University of Peoria, Illinois, have awarded $700,000 to two teams vying to go down in history as the first 3D Printed Habitat Challenge winner. A prize of $500,000 was awarded to New York-based AI SpaceFactory. Second-place and $200,000 went to Pennsylvania State University of University Park.
Construction 3D printing startup COBOD International has been building a solid reputation for itself since it was founded as a spin-off of 3D Printhuset last September. Following a series of announcements, including the first EU tender for a construction 3D printer and new distributors for its BOD2 construction 3D printer, COBOD has announced the receipt of its second European tender.
Concr3de, a Dutch company specializing in 3D printing stone, is offering up its additive technology for the restoration of Paris’ Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral. In fact, the company has proposed using its technology to quite literally rebuild damaged parts of the cathedral from the ashes of Notre-Dame.
The construction sector has always been very close to the heart of the Belgian BESIX Group and forms the company’s core activities. In recent years, the construction sector has been working hard on catching up with regard to digitization and innovative tools. This technological progress is mainly in the design and design of buildings and structures. By introducing 3D concrete printing via a KUKA KR QUANTEC robot, BESIX Group has now been taking the next steps towards a digital implementation of projects.
AMT-Specavia, a Russian company specializing in construction 3D printing technologies, is partnering with a team in South Korea with the aim of producing artificial coral reefs for the Yellow Sea. The 3D printing effort, which it utilizing high-strength hydrophobic concrete to create the artificial coral, aims to rehabilitate the quickly deteriorating coral reef ecosystem in the Yellow Sea.
Construction 3D printing company COBOD International has signed a distribution agreement with German PERI Group, a leading company in the German, Swiss and Austrian construction markets. Through the agreement, customers in those three regions will be able to rent COBOD 3D construction printers from PERI.