3D technology and industrial robots used to manufacture construction products

Switzerland-based robotics company Saeki has announced the creation of fully automated plants using 3D technology and industrial robots to manufacture various products, including construction site installations.

(L to R) Oliver Harley, Matthias Leschok and Andrea Perissinotto (Photo: Saeki)

Saeki works with the architectural design, engineering design and construction services industry to save concrete and CO2 having developed a new method to produce custom concrete formwork cost-effectively. The company says that they achieve this by combining 3D printing, milling, with large industrial robots that can print formwork up to many metres in length, very efficiently and when it comes to design complexity, the opportunity is unlimited.

Currently, says the company, to develop a lightweight carbon fibre element, or to build an optimised concrete floor slab, buyers would have to wait months and spend vast sums of money to receive a first sample. Saeki says that they remove this bottleneck, enabling buyers to innovate and grow their services and offerings in ways they have not been able to before.

Andrea Perissinotto, Co-Founder of SAEKI, commented, “From what we build underground, to what we build on earth, to what goes to space, from the construction to aerospace industries, there is a need for large, one-off (custom) components, that are mostly used once a couple of times at most, then scrapped.

“Manufacturing these parts, from the moulds to make concrete elements to the tooling required to build composite rockets, is labour intensive, has long lead times, and is very expensive. Moreover, these factors delay hardware iteration to get to the final product.”