A 3D-printed home by Icon in Austin, Texas. It’s part of a new generation of startups that wants to disrupt the way houses are built by automating production with industrial 3D printers. — Courtesy of ICON via AP
A new generation of startups wants to disrupt the way houses are built by automating production with industrial 3D printers.
3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, uses machines to deposit thin layers of plastic, metal, concrete and other materials atop one another, eventually producing three-dimensional objects from the bottom up. In recent years, 3D printers have mostly been used to create small quantities of specialised items such as car parts or prosthetic limbs, allowing consumers or businesses to produce just what they need using the machines at home or work.
A 3D-printed home by Icon in Austin, Texas. It’s part of a new generation of startups that wants to disrupt the way houses are built by automating production with industrial 3D printers. — Courtesy of ICON via AP
Workers assemble a housing module composed of 3D-printed panels at Mighty Buildings factory in Oakland, Calif. Once assembled, the unit will be delivered to the property by truck. — AP
Mighty Buildings production manager Yonah Naftaly stands in front of 3D printed homes being prepared for delivery to its customers in Oakland, California. The printer can produce the entire exterior shell of a studio home or individual wall panels that can easily assembled with simple tools, the company said. Mighty Buildings is now producing 350-square-foot backyard studios, known in the industry as ‘accessory dwelling units’, that can be used as extra bedrooms, playrooms, gyms or home offices. — AP
A 3D printer produces a wall panel made of a stone-like material inside the Mighty Buildings factory in Oakland, Calif. A new generation of startups wants to disrupt the way houses are built by automating production with industrial 3D printers. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, uses machines to deposit thin layers of plastic, metal, concrete and other materials atop one another, eventually producing three-dimensional objects from the bottom up. — AP
Mighty Buildings production manager Yonah Naftaly shows a machine that fills 3D printed wall panels with insulating foam. The printer can produce the entire exterior shell of a studio home or individual wall panels that can easily be assembled with simple tools, the company said. — AP
This photo provided by Mighty Buildings shows a 3D-printed housing module being delivered in Livermore, California. Most of the modules built by Mighty Buildings are assembled in the factory, transported by truck to the owner’s property, then put into place using a crane. — Courtesy of Mighty Buildings via AP
