3D printing buildings and other structures with soil and binder

Stone Spray is a promising-looking 3D printer that is intended to produce building-scale structures by combining soil with binder from a spray-nozzle. Unfortunately, all the meaty tech information is locked up in a weird "book" player that doesn't work well on my screen, but you can get a general idea from the video above (I recommend scrolling at 10-20 second intervals and turning off sound).

Stone Spray Project

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: 3d printing • architecture • Gadgets • happy mutants • videos

More at Boing Boing

Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

http://profiles.google.com/stryxvaria Stryx Varia

That much closer to Richard K. Morgan’s construction material of the future:

Bubblecrete.
http://twitter.com/Moriash Nathan

The coral-like constructions shown are beautiful, but I found myself wishing they’d show a simple geometric shape as a proof of concept for useful construction. A simple cube would go a long way toward showing that the process has potential for practical use.
Conan Librarian

Great news, I can’t wait until my little RepRap Prusa grows up and becomes a builder! Better start saving for her upgrade.
http://www.xradiograph.com/ OtherMichael

See Also: Contour Crafting (lousy website) and article @ Inhabitat.
- Conan Librarian
  
  “(lousy website)”
  
  sees the .edu …. ಠ_ಠ
trefecta

Reminiscent of Antoni Gaudí’s style… but with robots!
DewiMorgan

Used to make sandcastles like this as a kid, but with water (and sea salt, I guess) as the binder. Just hold wet sand, and the dribbles come out at the right consistency to build complex structures like flying buttresses and stuff.
bbonyx

“(I recommend … turning off sound).”

I liked the music. I thought it was better than anything I’ve ever heard Amy pimp on here.
- http://twitter.com/trempls tré
  
  Careful what you say about the music around here. It’s a tender spot for some of BB’s editors; voice of experience.
Their feldspars

Reminds me of this, but with a robot arm:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotcrete
MauiJerry

This system looks like it sprays sand and binder all over, with the hope of getting some to stick where desired. Perhaps it might be better to use layers of sand rather than spray&pray technique. Layers is what is used in professional Fused Deposition Manufacturing (FDM) systems like the Objet etc.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3NMEYTP637EWZ6MYFXUK2F6K5A Jon

Someone stole my Turntable and all they left me with was some ambient Euro techno…
http://twitter.com/trempls tré

I’m glad Boing Boing has introduced me to the magic of 3D printing. Still waiting for one that uses a hemp-based material. Cheap(er), sustainable 3D printing, anyone?
- http://twitter.com/regularfry Alex Young
  
  Well, this one uses sand. You don’t get much cheaper. If you want a plastic printer, *in principle* you can make a printable plastic out of potatoes, but I don’t know of anyone doing it at scale.
austinhamman

nerds can’t even make sandcastles without a robotic arm and a laptop.

its awesome.
IndexMe

Nice music and Gaudi inspiration. That said, I think I would feel more comfortable about the strength of a structure made using more techniques from sand castle creation due to the huge amount of lacunae you get. When 3d printing with metal powder is done for example IIRC these lacuna need to get filled in for max strength. Incidentally this reminds me of ant mazes. Using the OP’s kind of printing system to print a cast in the sand and pouring concrete into it might also work.