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House Construction: The 3D Printed House
drylin® E linear robots from igus® for 3D printer in the XXL format
The façade of the Dutch "Europe Building" in the Amsterdam Marine Quarter was partly built with 3D printing. The architecture firm DUS presented the idea, and also provided a mobile 3D printer for such work. For the construction of the façade elements, the architects used both the gantry systems and the engineering support of igus®.
Everything started small - even 3D printing. This applies not only to the market share of this production technology, but also for the size of the printed components. Initially, there were small prototypes, orthodontic aids, and designer jewelry, which were manufactured with generative processes. Today, 3D printers already produce motor vehicle components and - at igus® - customized wear-resistant Tribo-components. And it goes even bigger: the Dutch architecture firm has realized the idea of building entire houses in this way – with a mobile 3D printer in XXL format, which is housed in a shipping container.
Eco-friendly, varied and practical
What seems unfeasible at first glance, on closer inspection is not only appealing, but really has a lot of arguments in its favor. In this way the load-bearing structures can be manufactured from plastic recyclate, which is also a sustainable enterprise. Construction site logistics considerably simplified: the elements are printed on-site, placed on the spot, and filled with concrete. And while cost-effective prefabricated architecture may have looked boring and uniform in the past, now a great freedom of design has opened up. In addition, the architects of DUS say, this process can be used very well for the quick construction of new houses in disaster areas.
To transform the idea into reality, DUS founded the company Actual. The aim of Actual is to enable the owner to design or adapt building components to customer requirements on a digital platform, which are then manufactured on-site using XXL 3D printers. Under the term "Kamermaker 2.0" (literally "Room maker 2.0"), this idea is very popular in the Dutch media. It was also reported worldwide and was even presented to US President Barack Obama during a visit to Amsterdam.
Whole components of the house of the EU Presidency were produced by 3D printers.
igus® as engineering partner for house construction
What the new way of building the house looks like in practice can be seen at the Europa-Haus in the Amsterdam Marine Quarter,
At the Europa-Haus in the Amsterdam Marine Quarter, which was built for the duration of the Dutch Presidency of the EU. The airy façade of this house is reminiscent of historic sailing ships, which were previously produced in this district. The 3D printed elements made of biodegradable plastic, which can be recycled at the end of the presidency, can be recognized below the sails. The 3D-printed façade elements are accompanied by 3D-printed seat elements, which were also created with Actual's 3D printer.
In the spirit of modern networking, Actual has sought for partners to help the "Kamer Maker 2.0" become an instant success. As one of these partners, igus® has aided in the design of the mobile 3D printer. The first generation had a separate room for the control and could therefore produce "only" parts up to a size of 2.00 x 2.00 x 3.00 meters. Thus, there was need for improvement, both in precision and in the printing speed.
The drylin® product range from igus® include ready to install linear robots for one, two and three axes with actuators and sensors for position detection.
Print head moves with the igus® room linear robot
The igus engineers developed new axes on which the print head moves. In the process, they used their expertise in additive manufacturing: conventional 3D printers of several manufacturers use igus® linear axes, and in the manufacturing igus® operates its own 3D printer to produce customized sliding elements from its iglide® filaments.
In the planning, the engineers made use of the modular system of the igus® multi-axis gantries. They are available as line, flat and room linear robots for one, two and three axes, and depart from predefined surfaces and spaces. In this case, a room linear robot is used, in which the x- and y-axis have been implemented with drylin® toothed belt units and the z-axis with drylin® lead screw and lead screw nut systems.
Precise linear drives - engineering support
Current project: Canal house from the mobile 3D printer
With the second generation of the "Kamermaker 2.0", Actual can print larger elements with high precision and greater speed. The igus® linear robot system was instrumental in this. Joe Platt, Head of Mechanical Engineering at Actual: "igus® gave us excellent support, and the gantry proved to be the best in practice."
Among the projects undertaken by Actual, at present is the "3D print Canal House", which is currently being built on a town canal in Amsterdam. The construction site is public and already has had more than 40,000 visitors. If you want to see a 3D printer building a house "live" in the XXL format, you can do so in Amsterdam at Asterweg 49.
