[ExI] Predictions for 2008 from 1968

[Kevin Freels]

At first when I saw Emlyn's post, I thought - gee - a day late and a 
dollar short. But then I looked at what they were doing and realized 
they were going about it all wrong. Here's a few problems with their 
process:
1.) Concrete construction = ugly
2.) Usefulness is limited with concrete walls. People like to be able to 
hang pictures,
3.) Concrete sweats - creates moisture problems.
4.) Flat roofs cause drainage and leakage problems.
5.) They still need to deal with putting in windows and doors, door 
frames, trim, and make sure they seal against the concrete which is a 
nightmare.
6.) Built on slab instead of crawlspace.
7.) Difficult to remodel.
8.) Stairways, basements, etc cannot be built.

So how do we address these things and make this practical? I'm not sure. 
I'm thinking that we would need several different "heads" or "print 
cartridges" depending on the application. Foundations would be concrete. 
Walls would need to be made of a yet-to-be-invented material. Something 
strong, waterproof, easy to change later if you wanted to remodel, yet 
soft enough to put a nail in to hang a picture. It would need a very 
high R-rating as well. Some parts would have to be modular - such as 
windows, doors, etc. But the right process would allow for a snap-in 
process. Heads will need to be able to rotate sideways so one could 
"print" basic walls, then pop in windows, then "print" the exterior 
"finish". The reason is because the way siding and such overlaps windows 
seams to ensure there are no leaks. Of course, printing a window would 
be nice. But I'm not sure that can be done. I already have some ideas 
how the electrical would be done. The main areas to address I see are:
1.) How do you manage to have something that can print as fine as needed 
for light switches and hinges and still manage to do walls and floors in 
a reasonable time.
2.) What is the absolute fewest number of different materials necessary 
to accomplish this.
3.) How do you handle "printing" for things that are above open space? 
(ie ceilings, floors over crawlspaces, doorways, etc. This will be 
critical when designing hinges, switches, and other such things.
How can each of the materials be made easy to work with?

One thing that just came to mind is epoxy resin. Both are liquid while 
apart, but mixed together they solidify. Maybe a similar process could 
be used here. Mixing occurs at the nozzle and hardens as it is laid 
down. Of course 15 minutes is too long. More like .25 seconds would be 
ideal (as a guess).I'll have to put some real thought to it before I 
post on the wiki so give me a few days. It would be great to come up 
with the requirements and then build a miniature prototype hat makes 
miniature houses.
Are you familiar with the open source 3d printer? 
http://fabathome.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page



Bryan Bishop wrote:
> On Wednesday 26 March 2008, Kevin Freels wrote:
>   
>> I have been working on a complete tear down and rebuild of my home
>> for several years and sometimes it just amazes me how archaic the
>> processes are and how much technology goes into them. I have
>> high-tech lithium-ion powered framing nailers, a laser sliding mitre
>> saw, and an insulation blower but still what I am resorting to is
>> sticking shaped trees together with metal pins and cramming stuffing
>> into the middle to hold in the warmth. Even worse is the need to
>> thread the entire structure with pipes and wires. As much fun as I
>> have with the framing nailer I can't help but to be a bit
>> disappointed in my fancy log cabin from time to time. I should be
>> able to design the thing on my computer and just print my new rooms
>> with a giant ink-jet; power and plumbing integrated just like an IC
>> chip.
>>     
>
> Let's collaborate on the system specs:
>
> http://heybryan.org/mediawiki/index.php/Automated_shelter_fabrication
>
> - Bryan
> ________________________________________
> http://heybryan.org/mediawiki/index.php/Roadmap
>
>   
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