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A robot can build this $10,000 house within 12 hours - take a look inside
A robot can build this $10,000 house within 12 hours - take a look inside
Leanna GarfieldMar 14, 2018, 18:43 IST
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New Story/ICON/YouTube
Building a house by hand can be both time-consuming and costly, so some homebuilders are now automating part of the construction process.
The homebuilding startup ICON uses a 3D-printing robot that can make parts for houses. The machine can print the walls, roof, and floor of a 650-square-foot model in as little as 12 hours. The windows, doors, plumbing, and electrical systems are then added by a human worker.
As The Verge notes, ICON debuted a prototype of the house at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Partnering with the international nonprofit New Story, the company plan to build dozens more for low-income communities in El Salvador by the end of 2019.
The Vulcan printer can construct a home that measures up to 800 square feet.
New Story and ICON aren't the first to 3D print a house. As Business Insider reported in 2017, the Ukrainian housing startup PassivDom has created a 3D printer that can construct a 410-square-foot, solar-powered home within eight hours.
New Story and ICON designed this house specifically for the developing world, since the 3D-printing process costs much less, is quicker, and produces less waste than traditional construction.
They see it as one solution that could help alleviate the global affordable housing crisis, Alexandria Lafci, cofounder of New Story, told The Verge.
Though the model below costs $10,000 in materials, the creators hope to reduce that figure to $4,000. By 2019, they will create 100 houses in El Salvador if all goes according to plan.
Eventually, New Story and ICON may also sell the homes in the United States.
