Buildings and coastlines could be monitored by fleets of autonomous repair robots, according to a Danish initiative that advocates "freeing" 3D printers to fix global problems.
Called Break the Grid, the initiative is a collaboration between three future-focused Danish companies ? GXN Innovation, the research arm of architects 3XN; additive manufacturing platform The Danish AM Hub; and Map Architects.
Solving issues of deterioration
The companies believe that pressing global challenges like coastline erosion and infrastructure deterioration could be fixed by giving 3D printers the power to move and act autonomously.
They envisage fleets of roaming 3D-printers moving across land, air and even sea.
A six-legged land robot is one of the concepts envisaged by Break the Grid "Freeing 3D printers to meet these challenges could be a revolution in the making," explained GXN founder Kasper Jensen.
"By enabling 3D-printing robots to crawl, swim and fly, we can address pressing environmental threats around the world at a lower cost and with greater efficiency."
Three robots for different environments
The companies have come up with three different concept designs to address three separate use-cases. All of them autonomously scan the environment, identify problem areas and act to fix them.
One of the 3D-printer designs is meant to move underwater, building artificial reefs ? structures designed to protect coastlines from eroding and to provide habitat for...