World’s Advanced Saving Project (WASP), an Italian company that builds 3D printers, will be taking 3D printing to a different level as it created a 40-foot-tall, 20-foot-wide printer using locally sourced, eco-friendly materials such as clay or dirt that is used to construct low-cost houses.
The massive printer dubbed the "Big Delta" aims to provide houses more quickly and efficiently as they aspire "to solve the global housing crisis by building houses using sustainable materials," Wired reported.
Said technology could be used to build houses for developing countries or those that experience disasters and lost their homes. It is also an answer to "housing problems which is expected to get worse because of rapid urbanization and poor urban planning," Business Insider wrote.
The gigantic machine is comprised of a metal frame with a nozzle in the center which rotates to form a structure layer by layer, while consuming only a little energy.
The United Nations estimated that by 2030, approximately three billion people will need proper housing as well as access to basic infrastructure like water and sanitation systems. 3D printers like the "Big Delta" could potentially help answer this problem of housing crisis which is plaguing millions of people globally.
Apart from WASP, two other companies used 3D-printing for construction including a Chinese company who constructed modular homes using the technology and a firm in Amsterdam who used robots for 3D printing a bridge over the Amsterdam Canal, TechInsider reported.
Said 3D printer will debut in an event hosted by WASP in Italy on Sep. 26-27, where they will work on a prototype house. Updates on the project will be posted on their website, where videos and images would be possibly shared as they will use a drone to capture its progress.
Below is a video of how the "Big Delta" will work.
