Robotic Arm 3D Printer with Build Length of 25 Feet

[Brian_Krassenstein]

For Dutch engineer Jasper Menger, 3D printing and Robotics are the wave of the future. Earlier this month he revealed what may be one of the larger 3D printers we have come across lately. His machine uses a robotic arm and an extruder, similar to an FFF 3D printer. Instead of filament, however, his machine relies on granulate material which is fed into a hopper and quickly heated to 220 degrees C. The printer can be constructed so that it has a build envelope of an incredible 8 x 3 x 2m. Yes, it can print objects up to 26 feet in length! More details on this printer and Jasper Menger can be found here: http://3dprint.com/52978/robotic-arm-3d-printer/

Below is a picture of this printer along with some of it's prints:

[bkpost]

Impressive installation. I do take issue with the quote:

“I was surprised that no one had come up with this idea earlier on,” Menger explained to3dprintmagazine.eu. “The beauty is that the robot is smarter than the 3D printer. A robot has only a few points in order to make the proper movement. Besides, you have six axes available.”

In fact he's not even the first Dutch citizen to have the idea: https://vimeo.com/17358934 Dirk's been working on it since 2010 at least. What's neat about Menger's system is that the extruder isn't mounted on the robot.