Imagine that a tall building has a crack 100 meters above the ground, the repair would be difficult and risky for the people who get up there. Dr. Mirko Kovac, a roboticist from Imperial College London thinks that we should learn from those species that build complex structures while flying, such as wasp and bee. These species can build a structure, such as a hive or nest, much bigger than their individuals, by placing wax, wood pulp, and their saliva in flight in a coordinated way. Each individual worker needs to adjust to the emerging structure and its imperfections to bring the complex structure into reality. In a recent publication in Nature, Dr. Kovac’s team describes Aerial Additive Manufacturing, a biology-inspired method for collective construction by drones. The system has two type of drones: builders with 3D-printing nozzles and scanners with cameras. The process alternates between the builders depositing layers of sturdy materials and the scanners assessing the printed structure thus informing the planning. All the drones are coordinated, possibly with human supervision, so that the construction can adapt to new conditions and unexpected changes. The researchers used the system to build a 2-meter-tall structure using polyurethane foam and a 0.18-m cylinder with cement mixture, both with high precision. The researchers believe that the method can be used for repairs in inaccessible places, such as sealing pipelines and fixing issues in tall buildings. In the future, when the technology is further developed, this scalable method might be used for construction on other planets.
Summary
Purpose
To fix cracks high above the ground on buildings
Idea
Use a coordinated group of 3D-printing drones
Further Possibilities
1. Use drones to build a house with complex structure
2. Use drones to product huge structures
3. Use drones to print a 3D printer
4. Use drones to fortify a building against hurricane
5. Use similar technologies to build structures in space
Questions
1. What might be all the things we need to build in inaccessible places?
2. What other drone groups can there be, in addition to builders and scanners?
3. What might be the most complex thing that a group of drones can do?
