The world's largest 3D printing community is about to be completed, and its next stop is aimed at the moon

On August 8, the world’s largest 3D printing community will be completed in the Wolf Ranch community in Texas. The community is introduced to ICON’s ultra-large Vulcan 3D printer, an innovative device that is reshaping the construction industry on an unprecedented scale.

3D printed house in the Wolf Ranch community, Georgetown, Texas
3D printed house in the Wolf Ranch community, Georgetown, Texas The Vulcan printer is far larger than traditional desktop 3D printers, with a length of over 45 feet (about 13.7 meters) ), with its majestic body and solid weight of 4.75 tons, is gradually completing its grand mission - to print out habitable houses. Since this summer, ICON’s robotic “architects” have been hard at work on a project to add the final touches of 100 3D-printed homes to a site about 30 miles outside of Austin.

A 3D printer is printing the walls of a house under construction. ICON company officially launched this initiative in November 2022 and is committed to building the world's largest 3D printing community. According to the company, compared with traditional construction methods, 3D printing technology shows significant advantages in terms of speed, cost, labor requirements and material waste. Conner Jenkins, senior project manager at ICON, said: "This innovation has greatly improved construction efficiency. Wall systems that previously required the collaboration of multiple teams can now be completed efficiently by just one team and one ICON robot."

An ICON employee watered the cement wall of a 3D printed house under construction. Under the precise operation of Vulcan, raw materials such as concrete powder, water, and sand were accurately mixed and applied layer by layer through a special nozzle with a fine texture similar to toothpaste. Spray out and accumulate layer by layer along the preset path, eventually forming a solid wall with a unique corduroy texture. Not only is this process highly efficient, it also makes the house waterproof, mildew-proof, termite-proof, and resistant to extreme weather.

ICON Print Captain Rogelio Serrano monitors a Vulcan 3D printer printing the walls of a house under construction. For residents, these high-tech houses not only have a short construction period (a single three- to four-bedroom house takes about three weeks to print), but also bring unexpected comfort experiences.
Lawrence Nourzad, a 32-year-old business development director, became one of the first residents of the Wolf Ranch community with his girlfriend Angela Hontas. Nourzad praised the new house, saying it was as strong as a "fortress" and confident it could withstand the tornadoes that are common in Texas. In addition, he also mentioned that these thick walls provide excellent thermal insulation in hot summer days, effectively reducing indoor reliance on air conditioning.

Lawrence Nourzadeh and Angela Hontas in their newly purchased 3D printed home in Georgetown, Texas.

However, the double-edged sword characteristics of technology are also revealed here. Noorzadeh said that although the walls are strong and have excellent thermal insulation properties, wireless signal transmission is also blocked. To this end, ICON recommends and most residents have adopted a mesh Internet router solution, which effectively solves the problem of signal penetration by broadcasting signals through multiple units in the home.

The 3D-printed homes in the Wolf Ranch community, which the developer calls the “Genesis Collection,” range in price from $450,000 to nearly $600,000. To date, more than a quarter of this series of residences have been sold, demonstrating the market’s strong interest and recognition of this innovative construction method.

It is worth mentioning that ICON’s ambitions go far beyond this. Since successfully printing its first 3D home in Austin in 2018, the company has set its sights further afield to the moon. As part of NASA's Artemis lunar exploration program, ICON has been awarded a contract to develop a building system that can construct landing pads, shelters and other structures on the lunar surface, heralding endless possibilities for human habitation in the future.

The above is the detailed content of The world's largest 3D printing community is about to be completed, and its next stop is aimed at the moon. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!