Prefab was big in the 50s and 60s. My parents owned a prefab house that didn't look automated at all. It was made of normal materials, wood and drywall and such, but mostly assembled in a factory. The onsite builders fastened together complete walls and floors and roof sections, on top of a foundation poured in the usual way. Onsite took a few days instead of a few weeks.
Indeed, it looks like bad idea. On the other hand, why not make it modular, like print larger than brick-sized Lego type modules elsewhere, then transport and assemble by robots :-)
The further you push the idea, the closer you get to the Boxabl model. Why not integrate electrical and plumbing into the prefabricated modules? At some point, you basically have no assembly left. You just transport prefabricated modules to the site, stick them together, hook them up to utilities, and you're done.
I think this may be a marketing spiel that some people use but when you think it through there are so many issues with 3D printing structures on the moon or mars that this seems like a silly reason. (Let's just start with: Where do you get your concrete mix from?) We don't even have regular flights to the moon or mars at this time. And once we have them and try to establish a more permanent presence, we'll almost certainly start with prefabricated units.
Prefab was big in the 50s and 60s. My parents owned a prefab house that didn't look automated at all. It was made of normal materials, wood and drywall and such, but mostly assembled in a factory. The onsite builders fastened together complete walls and floors and roof sections, on top of a foundation poured in the usual way. Onsite took a few days instead of a few weeks.
Indeed, it looks like bad idea. On the other hand, why not make it modular, like print larger than brick-sized Lego type modules elsewhere, then transport and assemble by robots :-)
The further you push the idea, the closer you get to the Boxabl model. Why not integrate electrical and plumbing into the prefabricated modules? At some point, you basically have no assembly left. You just transport prefabricated modules to the site, stick them together, hook them up to utilities, and you're done.
Is the point proof of concept for the moon and mars? That has been my understanding
I think this may be a marketing spiel that some people use but when you think it through there are so many issues with 3D printing structures on the moon or mars that this seems like a silly reason. (Let's just start with: Where do you get your concrete mix from?) We don't even have regular flights to the moon or mars at this time. And once we have them and try to establish a more permanent presence, we'll almost certainly start with prefabricated units.