In 2017, Dutch designer Joris Laarman will wheel a robot to the brink of a canal in Amsterdam. He’ll hit an “on” button. He’ll walk away. And when he comes back two months later, the Netherlands will have a new, one-of-a-kind bridge, 3-D printed in a steel arc over the waters. This isn’t some proof-of-concept, either: when it’s done, it will be as strong and as any other bridge. People will be able to walk back and forth over it for decades.
That’s the plan, anyway. To make his dream a reality, Laarman has created a new research and development company called MX3D, which specializes in building six-axis robots that can 3-D print metal and resin in mid-air. The tech allows for large-scale objects like infrastructure to be printed in the exact spot where they’ll live, which has radical implications for the construction industry and opens up a wealth of new design possibilities.
via Fast Company
Image: JORIS LAARMAN FOR MX3D
