康奈尔大学（Cornell University）新的6,000磅重的工业机器人可以打印出可以改变建筑行业的大型结构，通过消除浪费传统材料制造，使其更加高效和可持续。
康奈尔（Cornell）现在是美国拥有这样一个系统的少数大学之一。IRB 6650年代工业机器人系统于2月到达，在过去的几个月中，Bovay Lab一直在培训使用机器人系统（本质上是一个长而旋转的手臂），并运行许多中型测试印刷品，包括长凳和种植者。
“机器人系统多功能且灵活，”民用与环境工程助理教授Sriramya Nair说。"One of the ways we are using it is for 3D-printing of concrete, but it can be used in other ways, too. You can attach a welder or laser system. You can stack bricks or tie rebar. Many tedious processes can be automated."
The process is labor intensive, but when done successfully, 3D printing eliminates the need for casting molds and allows for the creation of unconventional shapes – optimizations that waste less material.
“每当您倒入铸造混凝土时，例如对于人行道，您都必须设置所有模具。它需要劳动，材料，您必须将其全部放下。所有这些东西都需要很多时间，”欧洲杯足球竞彩Bovay Lab的技术服务经理James Strait说。"Every change you make to a concrete structure, you have to modify the mold or get a new mold and spend labor doing that. That is a lot more difficult than going to a computer program and saying, 'You want this rounded-' Click. A couple of hours and you're done."
Nair plans to incorporate the system into a new class she is teaching in the fall, Sustainability and Automation: The Future of Construction Industry, which will help prepare students for the coming changes in their f"ield.
For now, the system is 3D printing with mortar, which is technically a paste with aggregate up to 4 millimeters in size. Anything larger than that could jam and damage the pump system. However, Nair's team intends to build their own extruder head to print steel-fiber-reinforced concrete, which uses larger aggregate, that can withstand heavier loads. That will pave the way for the lab to 3D print full bridge components and test them.
Nair还希望她的小组能够创建自己的混合物，而不是依靠制造商的预混合材料。
"这些材料的碳足迹现在很高，”欧洲杯足球竞彩她说。"So that's another goal, to reduce the carbon footprint associated with 3D-printed materials."
来源：https://www.cornell.edu/