Autonomous robot 3D printers like this could help build homes for us on other planets

The Verge ------- MIT’s new 3D printer doesn’t need much direction. It takes the form of a pair of robotic arms — one hydraulic, one electric — mounted on tank-like treads. Steer it into place, and it can create a 12-foot-high dome in less than 14 hours, using building materials (in this case, insulating foam) it carries in a mini-trailer. A dome like this might not look like much to you or me, but the robot’s creators say it’s a big step toward 3D-printing whole buildings. The system is just a prototype at this point, but MIT’s engineers intend their robot 3D printer to be fully self-sufficient in the future. It could be equipped with a scoop to pick up dirt and ice to use as construction materials; while solar panels could easily provide power in remote climates. As MIT’s Steven Keating, one of the engineers behind the project, explains, the end goal is “to have something totally autonomous, that you could send to the moon or Mars or Antarctica, and it would just go out and make these buildings for years.” Until humans show up and live in them, of course. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.