Over the years this show has done quite a few episodes about drones.
We’ve also done quite a few episodes about 3D printing.
So I guess this episode, about drones that can do 3D printing in the air, is the most ambitious crossover event in our show’s history.
This project comes from the Swiss tech lab Empa and Imperial College London in the UK.
They modeled their team of drones off of bees, who work, fly and team up to do what individuals can’t do on their own.
The process is called Aerial Additive Manufacturing.
First, there are BuilDrones, which fly to the construction site and do their share of the 3D printing while still flying.
After that, there are ScanDrones.
They fly over and determine whether the BuilDrones’ work was done according to plan.
The idea is that the BuilDrones will be able to adjust in real time to the ScanDrones’ measurements.
The researchers say Aerial Additive Manufacturing could be useful to build or repair structures where it could be expensive and potentially dangerous to send human builders, like extremely tall buildings.
And for those of us who like watching videos online of drones zooming around historic sites or bridges or bowling alleys or whatever?
Just think about what amazing camera angles we might see during these construction projects.
Sometimes a very little thing can keep a very big thing from doing its thing.
Today in 2014, the Journal reported that the Sean O’Casey Bridge in Dublin was fully operational again.
The footbridge could raise up to let shipping traffic through, but for four years it never once did so.
Why?
Because when the officials that controlled the bridge moved offices, the remote control went missing, and they had to create a new one.
Drone Swarms that Can 3D Print While Flying (Core77)
The Celtic Tiger bridge that wouldn’t open because of a lost remote control (The Journal)
