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posted by LaminatorX on Wednesday June 17 2015, @10:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the heavy-metal dept.

3D printing started out with tiny plastic structures, and over time it has moved on to larger, more complex, and more solid things, from duck prosthetics to airplane engine parts. Will the next step be infrastructure?

A company named MX3D intends to do just that, with the help of Dutch designer Joris Laaram and Autodesk (providing the software to make this happen). The goal is to use robots to 3D-print a steel bridge over a canal in Amsterdam, basically creating the bridge out of thin-air, like in the rendering above.

Particularly challenging is that the robots will be printing their own supporting structures, so any early mistake or miscalculation will be fatal to the project.

"I strongly believe in the future of digital production and local production, in "the new craft". This bridge will show how 3D printing finally enters the world of large-scale, functional objects and sustainable materials while allowing unprecedented freedom of form," said Joris Laarman, the designer of the bridge. "The symbolism of the bridge is a beautiful metaphor to connect the technology of the future with the old city, in a way that brings out the best of both worlds."

Perhaps self-printing, self-healing infrastructure is the answer to its crumbling all the time.


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Wednesday June 17 2015, @11:48PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday June 17 2015, @11:48PM (#197594)

    Our governments are aware of the massive progress in the secret research on jetpacks, and therefore know that there is no point in maintaining bridges and roads that will be obsoleted overnight.

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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday June 18 2015, @12:58AM

    by Freeman (732) on Thursday June 18 2015, @12:58AM (#197628) Journal

    We've had the ability to build jetpacks for quite some time. The problem is the inherent danger associated with flying around with rockets attached to your back. "It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the end." Kinda hard to get around those natural laws and the stupidity of the average person.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by captain normal on Thursday June 18 2015, @03:38AM

      by captain normal (2205) on Thursday June 18 2015, @03:38AM (#197667)

      Just like the the old skydiver saying, "The sky's not the limit, the ground is."

      --
      When life isn't going right, go left.