AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY CONTOUR CRAFTING TECHNOLOGY 2020

VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Jnana Sangama, Belagavi – 590 018

A PROJECT REPORT ON

AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY CONTOUR CRAFTING TECHNOLOGY

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment for the Award of Degree of
Bachelor of Engineering
in

Civil Engineering
(15CVS86: SEMINAR ON CURRENT TRENDS IN ENGINEERING AND
TECHNOLOGY)
Submitted by

SRINIVAS B V 1RN16CV051
Under the Guidance of
Mr. ARJUN P (Assistant professor)
Department of Civil Engineering

RNS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Civil Engineering
Bengaluru – 560 098
2019-2020
Department Of Civil Engineering, RNSIT
 AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY CONTOUR CRAFTING TECHNOLOGY 2020

RNS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Dr. Vishnuvardhan Road, Channasandra, Bengaluru – 560 098
Department of Civil Engineering

CERTIFICATE
Certified that the Seminar work entitled “AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY
CONTOUR CRAFTING TECHNOLOGY” is carried out by SRINIVAS B
V(1RN16CV051) in partial fulfillment for the award of Bachelor of Engineering in Civil
Engineering, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, during the year 2019-
2020.

It is certified that all corrections/suggestions indicated for internal assessment have

been incorporated in the report. The seminar report has been approved as it satisfies the
academic requirements in respect of project work prescribed for the award of the degree
of Bachelor of Engineering (15CVS86: SEMINAR ON CURRENT
TRENDS IN ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY).

Signature of Guide Signature of HOD Signature of Student

Mr. Arjun P Dr. M T Prathap Kumar SRINIVAS B V
Assistant Professor Head of the Department 1RN16CV051

Name of the examiners Signature with date

1 ……………………. ……………………

2 ……………………. ……………………

Department Of Civil Engineering, RNSIT

 AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY CONTOUR CRAFTING TECHNOLOGY 2020

ABSTRACT

Although automation has advanced in manufacturing, the growth of automation in construction

has been slow. Conventional methods of manufacturing automation do not lend themselves to
construction of large structures with internal features. This may explain the slow rate of growth
in construction automation. Contour Crafting (CC) is a recent layered fabrication technology that
has a great potential in automated construction of whole structures as well as sub-components.
Using this process, a single house or a colony of houses, each with possibly a different design,
may be automatically constructed in a single run, imbedded in each house all the conduits for
electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning. This report addresses the application of CC in building
habitats on other planets. CC will most probably be one of the very few feasible approaches for
building structures on other planets, such as Moon and Mars, which are being targeted for human
colonization before the end of the new century.

Department Of Civil Engineering, RNSIT

 AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY CONTOUR CRAFTING TECHNOLOGY 2020

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
CHAPTER 1
1. INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 2
2. CONTOUR CRAFTING 2
CHAPTER 3
3. LITERATURE SURVEY 3
CHAPTER 4
4. HOUSE BUILDING PROCESS 4
CHAPTER 5
5. CHARACTERISTICS 7
CHAPTER 6
6. APPLICATIONS 11
CHAPTER 7
7. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CONTOUR
CRAFTING
7.1 ADVANTAGES 12
7.2 DISADVANTAGES 12
CHAPTER 8
8. HUASHAG TENGDA : MANSION (CASE STUDY) 13

CHAPTER 9
9. CONCLUSION 14
REFERENCE 15

Department Of Civil Engineering, RNSIT

 AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY CONTOUR CRAFTING TECHNOLOGY 2020

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is our proud privilege and duty to acknowledge the kind of help and guidance from several
people in preparation of this report. It would not have been possible to prepare this report in
this form without their valuable help, cooperation and guidance.

Our sincere thanks to guide Mr. Arjun P, Assistant Professor, RNSIT for his valuable
suggestions and guidance throughout the period of this report.

We express gratitude to Dr. M T Prathap Kumar, Professor and Head, Department of

Civil Engineering, RNSIT for his valuable suggestions and guidance throughout the period
of this report.

We like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. M K Venkatesha, Principal, RNSIT for his
encouragement for the conduction of this project work.

We express gratitude to Dr. H N Shivashankar, Director, RNSIT who has always been a
great source of inspiration.

We would like to express gratitude to our beloved Chairman Dr. R N Shetty, for providing
state of art facilities in the Institute.

The Project work on “AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY CONTOUR CRAFTING

TECHNOLOGY” was very helpful to us in giving the necessary background information
and inspiration in choosing this topic for the project.

Last but not the least, we wish to thank our parents for financing our studies in this college as
well as for constantly encouraging us to learn engineering. Their personal sacrifice in
providing this opportunity to learn engineering is gratefully acknowledged.

Place: Bengaluru STUDENT NAME : SRINIVAS B V

USN :1RN16CV051

Department Of Civil Engineering, RNSIT

 AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY CONTOUR CRAFTING TECHNOLOGY 2020

CHAPTER 1

1. INTRODUCTION
Contour crafting is a building printing technology being researched by Behrokh Khoshnevis of
the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute (in the Viterbi School of
Engineering) that uses a computer-controlled crane or gantry to build edifices rapidly and
efficiently with substantially less manual labor. Khoshnevis stated in 2010 that NASA was
evaluating Contour Crafting for its application in the construction of bases on Mars and Moon. In
the same year he stated that this system could build a complete home in a single day, and its
power crane that is electrically operated would produce a very little construction material waste.
After three years, in 2013, NASA funded a small study at the University of Southern California
to further develop the Contour Crafting 3D printing technique. Contour Crafting (CC) seems to
be one of the layered fabrication technology that is applicable to construction of large structures
such as houses. The construction automation will require a paradigm shift in process technology.
The Contour Crafting construction process, fits in this category and has the potential to
revolutionize the industry, changing it from the conventional “cast-in-place” paradigm to a layer
by layer approach. The aim of this technology is to improve the speed, safety, quality and cost of
construction.

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CHAPTER 2

2. CONTOUR CRAFTING
Contour Crafting is an additive fabrication technology that uses computer control to exploit the
superior surface forming capability of troweling to create smooth and accurate planner and free-
form surfaces out of extruded materials.(Zhang & Khoshnevis) Contour Crafting seeks to
increase safety standards (both for occupants and laborers) and construction efficiency at a time
when: “Labor efficiency is alarmingly low, accident rates at construction sites are high, work
quality is low, and a skilled workforce is vanishing.” As the population in developing countries
grows rapidly, traditional methods of construction will not meet housing demands, especially in
areas where a higher construction standard is required for safety precautions. Contour Crafting
seeks to address housing problems and provide people in all countries and all societies with
affordable and dignified housing.

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CHAPTER 3

3. LITERATURE SURVEY
Hrishekesh V. Patil et al (2019) “Contour Crafting (A Management Tool for
Swift Construction)”

In the CC construction process, a precise amount of mortar mixture is delivered to make a

concrete mold using robotic techniques. Mortar mixture is added in a layer by layer fashion; then
a volume of commercially available concrete is poured with a certain time delay between
batches. The CC construction process has great potential in construction automation due to its
relative simplicity, low cost, and capability of being easily integrated with currently available
automation technologies. This is demonstrated by CC’s unique capabilities and experimental
results in fabricating a full-scale concrete wall structure using ordinary construction materials
This paper aims at methodology for process planning and optimization in order to efficiently
construct complicated large-scale structures by Contour Crafting systems using different
hardware configurations.

Ali Mokhtari et al (2018) “Automatic Construction by Contour Crafting

Technology”

The upcoming problem in traditional construction are construction methods currently in use.
These construction methods are generally accompanied by compact, slow, and finally
insufficient work to reach the goal. There are some other deficiencies in modern construction
such as different building methods, building management problems, wasting and high
consumption (in energy and material), high cost of current processes, and increase of
environmental damages due to over activity of construction machinery. Paper aims to describe
the operational steps of creating a whole building by the machine reviewing relevant literature.

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William J. Leonard (2017) “Case Study on 3D Printing Implementation Strategies ”

Waste is an unwanted material generated after the manufacturing process of industrial, or from
house hold activity, or from agricultural. It is very essential to reuse it or dispose it. This paper
represents the most suitability of replacement of sewage treatment dry sludge in brick with
ordinary soil. The feasibility of sewage sludge as ingredient in brick making, conservation of
natural resources like clay, how to solve the problem of disposal of sewage sludge in urban
region and how to make eco-friendly low cost and durable construction material. The
compressive strength, water absorption, weight and other aspects were studied.

CHAPTER 4

4. HOUSE BUILDING PROCESS

Flattening the needed space, a frame is dug for the foundation filled with concrete.
Contour crafting machine accompanied by a piece of machinery on specific railroads will be
put and moved next to the foundation. In order to access to each part in the 3D dimension
space, the machine has to be able to move in all 3 X, Y and Z axes. The first axis (X) is made
up of rails. Axis Y is created by the height of machine arm. When the arm is wide open, it
will be 6 meters high sufficient to build a 2-storey building. The 3rd axis (Z) is made up of a
horizontal bar which joins 2 arms.
Installing and preparing the machine, next step is the injection of the material which
varies according to the project goal and building step. To construct an ordinary building,
concrete paste will be an appropriate material injected into the front valve of the machine
propelling one of its pumps to the nozzle orifice. In the end, concrete will enter to the 4- axis
nozzle giving it too much freedom of movement. Arms have a unit of extrogene to carry
materials from storage to head of nozzle and control the speed. Arms are also equipped with a
controlling trowel, which is able to move horizontally and vertically and also controls the
slope, angle, and delicacy of geometrical shapes. Nozzles have 3 different heads which can
create various shapes according to different external patterns.
The mentioned machine is capable of building both kinds of buttresses and standard
walls. Nozzle can create some dented parts in the wall so as to incorporate pipe installations .
Therefore, the first step is finished. The next step is about making upper parts of windows
frames. This is done by the robotic arm. These arms are also responsible for installing the
ceiling, which is prefabricated and looks like a chained plate. This plate folds and is placed
via arms in its position and provides the space to build the upper storey . When the ceiling is

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built and installed and the upper storey in created by them machine, we can observe a
completely printed house.
It is worth noting that the capability of CC machine is not only restricted to walls printing
in building houses, but also to strengthen the walls placing electrical installations and also
painting houses in the range of the mentioned machine activities.

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Department of Civil Engineering, RNSIT 6

 AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION BY CONTOUR CRAFTING TECHNOLOGY 2020

CHAPTER 5

5. CHARACTERISTICS
1. DESIGN FLEXIBILITY
The process allows architects to design structures with functional and exotic architectural
geometries that are difficult to realize using the current manual construction practice.

CHAPT

2. UTILITY CONDUITS
As shown in Figure utility conduits may be built into the walls of a building structure
precisely as dictated by the CAD data. Sample sections made with CC and filled with
concrete

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3. AUTOMATED TILING OF FLOORS AND WALLS

Automated tiling of floors and walls may be integrated by robotically delivering and
spreading the material for adhesion of tiles to floors or walls, as shown in Figure another
robotic arm can then pick the tiles from a stack and accurately place them over the area
treated with the adhesive material. These robotic arms may be installed on the same
structure which moves the CC nozzle.

4. AUTOMATED PAINTING
During or after layer wise construction of walls a spray painting robotics manipulator,
attached to the CC main structure may paint each wall according to desired
specifications. The painting mechanism may be a spray nozzle, or an inkjet printer head
(such as those used for printing large billboards). The latter mechanism makes painting
wall paper or other desired patterns possible.

5. AUTOMATED REINFORCEMENT
Robotic modular imbedding of steel mesh reinforcement into each layer may be devised,
as shown in Fig. The three simple modular components shown in this figure may be
delivered by an automated feeding system that deposits and assembles them between the
two rims of each layer of walls built by CC. A three dimensional mesh may be similarly
built for columns. Concrete may then be poured after the rims of the wall or column are
built by CC. The mesh can follow the geometry of the structure. Note that in this
configuration the CC nozzle, the steel reinforcement module feeder, and the concrete
filler feeder could all be on the same gantry system. Such a system can create shapes
with smooth outer surfaces and reinforced internal structure automatically and in one
setup. As an alternative to traditional metal reinforcement, other advanced materials can

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be used, such as the fiber reinforced plastics (FRP). Since the nozzle orifice in CC does
not need to be very small, it is possible to feed glass or carbon fiber tows through the CC
nozzle to form continuous reinforcement consolidated with the matrix materials to be
deposited. In the proposed study, deposition of the FRP reinforcement by a parallel
nozzle built into the CC nozzle assembly will also be considered. Co-extrusion is further
discussed in a later section. Reinforcement can also be provided using the posttensioning
system. Accurate ducts can be generated by the CC process. Similar to post-tensioned
concrete construction, metal or FRP wires can be fed through the ducts and then post-
tensioned to provide reinforcement.

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6. AUTOMATED PLUMBING
Because of its layer by layer fabrication method, a Contour Crafting based construction
system has the potential to build utility conduits within walls. This makes automated
construction of plumbing and electrical networks possible. For plumbing, after
fabrication of several wall layers, a segment of copper (or other material) pipe is attached
through the constructed conduit onto the lower segment already installed. The robotics
system, shown on the upper left side of Fig delivers the new pipe segment and in case of
copper pipes has a heater element (shown in red) in the form of a ring. The inside (or
outside) rim of each pipe segment is pretreated with a layer of solder. The heater ring
heats the connection area, melts the solder, and once the alignment is made, bonds the
two pipe segments. Other universal passive (requiring no active opening or closing)
robotic gripper and heater mechanism designs used for various plumbing components are
also shown in Figure .The needed components may be prearranged in a tray or magazine
for easy pick up by the robotic assembly system. Using these components various
plumbing networks may be automatically imbedded in the structure.

7. AUTOMATED ELECTRICAL AND COMMUNICATION UTILITY

A modular approach similar to industrial bus-bars may be used for automating electrical
and communication line wiring in the course of constructing the structure by Contour
Crafting. The modules, as shown in Figure 9, have conductive segments for power and
communication lines imbedded in electrically non-conductive materials such as a
polymer, and connect modularly, much like the case of plumbing. All modules are
capable of being robotically fed and connected. A simple robotics gripper can perform
the task of grabbing the component from a delivery tray or magazine and connecting it to
the specified component already installed. The automated construction system could

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properly position the outside access modules behind the corresponding openings on the
walls, as specified by the plan. The only manual part of the process is inserting fixtures
through wall openings into the automatically constructed network.

CHAPTER 6

6. APPLICATIONS
1. APPLICATIONS IN EMERGENCY HOUSING
• Can deliver houses to disaster victims very rapidly.
• 200 sq. foot house in less than 24 hours.
• Uses in-situ construction materials, saving the time and cost.
• Automated process, labor needs are minimized.
2. LOW INCOME HOUSING
• It can reduce cost of financing by reducing the duration of project. can decrease about
four times of the construction cost because of its simplicity, materials’ saving and short
time productivity (10 houses in one day, for example).
• Can reduce the cost of materials, because it is waste less process.
• Can reduce the labor cost.
• Can save the life of labors, because it is very safe method of construction.

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3. SPACE TECHNOLGY
• Laboratories or manufacturing facilities is the key element for long-term human survival
on the Moon or Mars.
• Contour Crafting technology has the potential to build safe reliable, and affordable lunar
and Martian structures.
• Systems are being developed that exploit in situ resources and can utilize lunar regolith as
construction material.

CHAPTER 7

7. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CONTOUR CRAFTING

7.1 ADVANTAGES

➢ Economical.
➢ Environmental friendly.
➢ Great architectural flexibility.
➢ High speed of construction.
➢ No wastage of materials.

7.2 DISADVANTAGES

➢ The foundation has to be built using Traditional Methods

➢ Existing engineering rules and practices
➢ High Switching Costs for Construction Companies

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CHAPTER 8

8. HUASHAG TENGDA : MANSION (CASE STUDY)

In the Tongzhou region near Beijing, China, The Chinese construction company
HuaShang Tengda constructed a 400-square-meter mansion using 3D concrete printers to
complete this project in just 45 days. This project is especially impressive because the
mansion is earthquake proof and can withstand quakes up to magnitudes of 8 on
the Richter scale. The walls of the mansion are 250 mm thick and were printed using
approximately 20 tons of C30-grade concrete. This grade of concrete is usually used
paving roads and provides this mansion with its incredible seismic resistance. The ability
to withstand an earthquake is a very important feature due to this project’s location in
China, and also provides a new product that can quickly be produced for earthquake
prone regions. This project was the first of its kind to be completely printed on site, rather
than shipping preprinted parts from factories. The project first prepared a pre-poured
concrete foundation complete with all necessary reinforcement and plumbing installed for
the complete 3D printed mansion. Once 3D printing commenced, the mansion was
completed using a combination of four different systems: an electronic ingredient
formulation system, a concrete mixing system, a transmission system and a 3D printing
system. The traditional concrete reinforcement system used does not require any
additives in the concrete and allows for locally produced concrete. The use of locally
produced concrete greatly reduces the transportation costs and simplifies delivery
logistics, however HuaShang Tengda claims that the greatest benefit is the increased
speed. HuaShang Tengda estimates that constructing this mansion would have taken three
months if conventional techniques were used. The company claimed that this competitive
advantage would provide them the extra edge they need to compete internationally when
bidding on projects. Once completing the 3D printing process, the crews painted and
decorated the interior of the Mansion.

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CHAPTER 9

9. CONCLUSION

Due to its speed and its ability to use in-situ materials, Contour Crafting has the potential for
immediate application in low income housing and emergency shelter construction. Construction
of luxury structures with exotic architectural designs involving complex curves and other
geometries , which are expensive to build using manual approach, is another candidate
application domain for CC. The environmental impact of CC is also noteworthy. According to
various established statistics the construction industry accounts for a significant amount of
various harmful emissions and construction activities generate an exorbitant amount of solid
waste. Construction of a typical single-family home generates a waste stream of about 3 to 7
tons (City of Austin, 2002). In terms of resource consumption, more than 40% of all raw
materials used globally are consumed in the construction industry (Lenssen and Roodman,
1995). Construction machines built for Contour Crafting may be fully electric and hence
emission free. Because of its accurate additive fabrication approach Contour Crafting could
result in little or no material waste. The CC method will be capable of completing the
construction of an entire house in a matter of few hours (e.g., less than two days for a 200 m2

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two story building) instead of several months as commonly practiced. This speed of operation
results in efficiency of construction logistics and management and hence favorably impacts the
transportation system and environment. There are numerous research tasks that need to be
undertaken to bring the CC construction technology to commercial use. The activities reported in
this article are the first few steps toward realization of actual full scale construction by Contour
Crafting.

REFERENCES

1. Hrishekesh V. Patil (2019) “Contour Crafting (A Management

Tool for Swift Construction)”
2. Ali Mokhtari (2018) “Automatic Construction by Contour
Crafting Technology”
3. William J. Leonard (2017) “Case Study on 3D Printing
Implementation Strategies”

Department of Civil Engineering, RNSIT 15