Automated Costruction by Contour Crafting

Contour crafting (CC) is a advanced building printing technology being researched by Behrokh Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California's in the Viterbi School of Engineering that uses a computer-controlled crane to build homes rapidly and efficiently with substantially less manual labor. It was originally designed as a method to construct molds for industrial parts. Khoshnevis decided to adapt the technology for rapid home construction as a way to rebuild homes after natural disasters, like the devastating earthquakes. Using a quicksetting, concrete-like material, contour crafting forms the walls of houses layer by layer until floors and ceilings are set in place by the crane. This great concept calls for the insertion of structural components, air conditioning, plumbing, wiring, utilities, and even consumer devices like audiovisual systems as the layers are built. Automation has been very advanced technology in manufacturing sector but the growth of automation in construction sector has been quite slow. Conventional methods of manufacturing automation cannot construct the giant structures with all internal features. This is the reason behind the slow rate of growth in construction automation. Contour Crafting has a great potential in automated construction of whole structures as well as its sub-components. Using this process, a single house or a colony of houses, each with possibly different designs may be automatically constructed in a single run. This research paper also deals with the application of CC in building habitats on other planets. CC will most probably be one of the very few feasible approaches for building structures on other planets, such as Moon and Mars, which are being targeted for human colonization. Contour Crafting is an emerging technology that uses robotics to construct free form building structures. The research paper aimed at providing a systematic solution for improving the overall Contour Crafting system efficiency in custom-designed buildings. The paper also deals with some practical construction issues.