Fromlifesaving implantstocutting edge manner , 3D printing is the gift that keep on gift . What will this additive technology do next ? Well , 3D mark a steel bridge in mid - air , of grade .
MX3D , a research and development startup caller , will practice robots to 3D print a pedestrian bridge across one of Amsterdam ’s canals . The versatile six - axis robotic arms will ‘ delineate ’ steel complex body part in 3-D , starting from one side of the canal and building across until it reach the other end . The golem will also impress its own backup , which allows it to make autonomously . The locating of the bridge will be denote soon and construction is fix to commence in 2017 .
“ This bridge will show how 3D printing finally enters the world of big - scale , running objects and sustainable cloth while allowing unprecedented freedom of var. , ” designer Joris Laarman said on the projectWeb Thomas Nelson Page . “ The symbolism of the bridge is a beautiful metaphor to connect the technology of the future with the honest-to-god metropolis , in a room that brings out the good of both worlds . ”

Animation of automatic arms 3D printing a bridgework . MX3D
The team has been able to surmount the shape and size restrictions of conventional 3D printing . MX3D engineers spend a lot time perfecting the robotic pressman , whichthey sayfirst started off as “ louse - same blobs . ” A few thing did gowrongalong the way of life , “ a welding machine explode , nozzles got stick and the robot got destroy . ” finally — after “ eternal testing”—MX3D engine driver were able withdraw complex sculptures in mid - air and then speed up the process .
" What distinguish our technology from traditional three-D printing method is that we influence according to the ' printing outside the box ' principle , " said Tim Geurtjens , main engineering officer at MX3D. " By printing with six - axis industrial robots , we are no longer limited to a substantial boxwood in which everything chance . Printing a functional , spirit - size bridge is of line the ideal way to showcase the eternal possibleness of this technique . ”
MX3D will work with the structure firm Heijmans and software companionship Autodesk .