Contractor Andrey Rudenko is currently working on a project of gargantuan proportions that seems to be stretching and exploring the limits of 3D printing technology. Using a printer that was substantially modified and expanded, he has printed a concrete castle in his own backyard.
And at 3 by 5 meters, this concrete structure is the world’s first 3D printed concrete castle, and one of the largest objects that has, up till now, ever printed with 3D printing technology. A project of this size obviously needs a printer of corresponding proportions, and Rudenko necessarily built his own machine. While he has received lots of very helpful feedback from the RepRap community, the actual construction was of his own design.
This massive machine is driven by Arduino Mega 2560 board and software, which is not too different from some other 3D printers, but it requires special stepper drivers ‘For a big printer, Andrey needed special drivers that can handle the heavy weight of the machine as well as be compatible with the software/firmware. The best fit they found was from James Newton’s Mass Mind.
This printer is therefore slightly different than the one developed by Behrokh Khoshnevis at USC. ‘Design-wise, I’m creating a natural, free-layering of fine concrete and my goal is to have a nice-looking, natural texture, without the need for any additional finish, similar to rammed earth technology.’
Rudenko is also seeking to develop a portable machine that even smaller construction companies can afford. ‘The final price will be known once we build a few houses, but to the best of his knowledge, Andry Rudenko currently sees it as being priced at $30,000-50,000, though this will also vary depending on the parts and type of model.’