This is the world's largest 3D printer: The University of Maine breaks its own record

[Shawn Knight]

Forward-looking: The University of Maine has broken its own 2019 Guinness World Record with a next-gen polymer 3D printer that is four times the size of its predecessor. Dubbed "Factory of the Future 1.0," or FoF 1.0 for short, the new thermoplastic printer is poised to advance sustainable manufacturing across a range of sectors.

FoF 1.0 can print objects as large as 96 feet long by 32 feet wide by 18 feet high at a rate of up to 500 pounds per hour, and can switch between multiple processes including large scale additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, robotic arm operations, and continuous tape layup.

The printer is housed within the Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC) at the University of Maine. It can work on projects solo or team up with MasterPrint (the aforementioned record breaking 3D printer) to tackle a as a team. The two can even work on the same part simultaneously if need be.

The printer unveiling ceremony was attended by representatives from the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the Main State Housing Authority, and other partners that aim to utilize the tech. It could enable eco-friendly and cost-effective manufacturing with applications in national security, maritime vessel fabrication, bridge construction, wind and ocean energy tech, and affordable housing.

Mark Wiesendanger, director of development at MaineHousing, said the state needs an estimated 80,000 additional homes by 2030, and many of those are specifically for folks with incomes at or below the area median.

"This effort creates another means of producing quality affordable housing, while further driving costs down, and using abundant wood residuals from Maine's sawmills," Wiesendanger said.

It is worth noting that Maine is the most forested state in the country, producing over a million tons of wood residuals annually that can be used as 3D printer feedstock.

The idea of using large 3D printers to construct affordable housing at scale has been around for years, but the rollout has been somewhat slow. Still, that has not stopped multiple industries from expressing interest. NASA, for example, is aiming to build 3D-printed houses for use on the Moon by 2040.

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This is the world's largest 3D printer: The University of Maine breaks its own record

 

[bviktor]

FoF 1.0 can print objects as large as 96 feet long by 32 feet wide by 18 feet high at a rate of up to 500 pounds per hour

Translation to human: 29 x 10 x 5.5 meters at a rate of 227 kg / h.

https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...DHdTM2gluMDqRxf8f0NSaoyKXebKMcahw&oe=665327DF

 

[VitalyT]

Who wants a pasta house?

 

[Thanthan]

Construction engineer here…

No it won’t. The actual main structure of a building typically accounts for around 10% of overall costs. This obviously varies based on building type, but it’s in that ballpark.

50% is installations and interior finishing, and I don’t see anyone entering the market with 3D printed plumbing, heating, ventilation, electricity, painting, and appliances any time soon.

Then comes the fact that it’s not that we can’t house everyone in rich countries, it’s that we won’t. This is particularly bad in the US, but many other OECD countries are similar.

There are a multitude of easy and inexpensive ways to provide housing, that require far less work than 3D printing single family housing (have y’all heard of this prefabricated multi storey housing thing invented after the 2nd world war?)

Housing issues aren’t a question of technology in rich countries, but rather one of policy and financing.

And the US, and many others, have decided that the poorest few percentiles don’t deserve access to basic human necessities.

 

[ThomasTECH]

3D Printing at such a large scale defeats the purpose of 3D printing entirely. 3D printing is only useful for making highly customized parts quickly and affordably from your own lab or workspace. Normal manufacturing is much more effective at building large structures such as homes for example, the government could pay to make millions of low cost portable homes for less than a tenth of one percent of the yearly budget.

 

[Endymio]

No it won’t. The actual main structure of a building typically accounts for around 10% of overall costs.

I found this out when I hired a contractor to build my home. His exact words were the "sticks and bricks" were insignificant; the real money was in the buildout and finishing.

(have y’all heard of this prefabricated multi storey housing thing invented after the 2nd world war?)

You may be interested in something that predates this. Even before the FIRST World War, Edison patented a method for prefabbing entire homes out of poured concrete -- not just the structure itself, but the furniture, bathtubs, everything. Several multi-family apartments were built using just this method in the 1920s, but Edison near-bankrupted himself trying to make a profit on it.

 

[human7]

Edison patented a method for prefabbing entire homes out of poured concrete -- not just the structure itself, but the furniture, bathtubs, everything.

A concrete sofa, how delightful. Lol. Seriously though that's interesting.

 

[p51d007]

...eliminate the housing crisis.

Oh, so we'll have "Levitown 2.0"?

 

[toooooot]

I thought that the most expensive parts are things like laying water pipes and electric wires.

3D Printing at such a large scale defeats the purpose of 3D printing entirely. 3D printing is only useful for making highly customized parts quickly and affordably from your own lab or workspace. Normal manufacturing is much more effective at building large structures such as homes for example, the government could pay to make millions of low cost portable homes for less than a tenth of one percent of the yearly budget.

What if the printer does it very fast, eliminates the need to assemble multiple parts?
Add cheap printing material and it could be good.

 

[Jack77]

At this size, you will also run into transportation issues.

Building large parts, yes, if they are custom. Directly building an entire house, it's not feasible, I think.

 

[Uncle Al]

I've seen a couple of these in person. While they are very good for what they are, they lack some of the basic's such as in-wall wiring for electric, etc. Once they have that improvement (not really that hard to do) the units will be more acceptable but having something that really cannot be easily altered or changed might be a show stopper for most people. On a limited scale such as units for the homeless, starter homes, etc. their application looks to be excellent.

 

[Underdog]

Governments usually turn a blind eye to housing shortage. The situation causes rising rents for the housing that already exists keeping the rich on the path to even more riches.

 

[Hooda Thunkett]

As long as real estate keeps appreciating there will be no political incentive to increase housing access. People (and corporations, which I'm told are people) are buying homes as an investment, and that's keeping the cost up and access low.
So, yeah, this won't do anything at all to increase housing.