Researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a large 3D printer that will build a two-story modular home in 24 hours. The fabrication technology, called Contour Crafting, was developed by Behrokh Khoshnevis, according to worldpropertychannel.com. A printer fitted with fast-drying concrete replaces laborers to create a home based on a pre-set computer pattern. “A single house or a colony of houses, each with possibly a different design, may be automatically constructed in a single run, embedded in each house all the conduits for electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning,” the developers say. A very real application would be for emergency and low income housing. Aug. 29, 2012, MHProNews posted a story of a house built on-site using 3D imagery.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia–ORDbot quantum 3D printer)