Using Autonomous 3D Printers to Repair Infrastructure and Environmental Deterioration

Three collaborating companies have proposed the use of autonomous 3D-printing technologies to monitor and repair the damage to buildings, coral reefs and coastlines that challenging environmental problems cause.

The Danish companies – GXN Innovation, The Danish AM Hub and Map Architects – believe problems such as coastline erosion, coral reef damage and deteriorating buildings could be fixed by freeing up fleets of autonomous 3D printers.GXN founder Kasper Jansen says freeing up 3D printers to meet these challenges could be a revolution in the making: “By enabling 3D-printing robots to crawl, swim and fly, we can address pressing environmental threats around the world at a lower cost and with greater efficiency.

GXN, an independent research arm of the Danish architecture firm 3XN, has started making prototypes based on currently available technologies.Along with an internationally active architectural platform MAP Architects and the government-funded Danish Am Hub, which supports research into additive manufacturing, GXN has now developed autonomous repair robots that move across the sea, land, and in the air.