Kavya Sreevasan Final Report

AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION USING CONTOUR CRAFTING
A SEMINAR REPORT
Submitted by
KAVYA SREEVASAN E V
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree
of
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
Guided by
Asso. Prof VASUDEV R
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
Toc H INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
ERNAKULAM 682313
OCTOBER 2013
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AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION USING CONTOUR CRAFTING
A SEMINAR REPORT
Submitted by
KAVYA SREEVASAN E V
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree
of
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
Guided by
Asso. Prof VASUDEV R
ERNAKULAM 682313
OCTOBER 2013
2
ARAKKUNNAM, ERNAKULAM-682 313
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the seminar titled “AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION USING
CONTOUR CRAFTING” is the bonafide work done by Ms. KAVYA SREEVASAN E V
(Reg. No: 11113024) under our supervision and guidance. This seminar report is submitted
to Toc H Institute of Science & Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
award of the degree of BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY in CIVIL ENGINEERING.
Guided by: Head of the department:
Asso. Prof Vasudev R Prof. Lathi Karthi
Department of Civil engineering Department of Civil engineering
TIST TIST
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I’m thankful to my parents for their constant encouragement and belief in me.
They are my pillars of support and I can never thank them enough.
I would like to express my gratitude to the management, Toc H Institute of Science and
Technology, Arakkunnam for their whole hearted support and for providing with a greater
infrastructure necessary for the completion of my seminar.
I also like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Job V Kuruvilla (Director, TIST) and
Prof. Dr. Justus Rabi (Principal, TIST) for their support throughout the completion of this
venture.
With a greater respect, I express my sincere thanks to Prof. Lathi Karthi (HOD, CE) for
all the proper guidance and encouragement that helped me to complete this seminar.
I am thankful to Asso. Prof. Lekshmi M S, seminar co-ordinator, Department of Civil

Engineering TIST, for her valuable coordination of this seminar.
I express my sincere gratitude to my project guide Asso. Prof. Vasudev R for his valuable
guidance and support.
Last but not the least; I’m grateful to all my friends for their valuable motivation and
support.
KAVYA SREEVASAN E V
S7, CE
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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. Our research also
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.
Keywords: Contour Crafting, Housing Construction, Construction on other

planets, CC system characteristics and tool path elements
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1. INTRODUCTION
Since the early years of the twentieth century automation has grown and prevailed in
almost all production domains other than construction of civil structures. Automation has been
slow in the construction industry due to:
a) Conventional design approaches that are not suitable for automation
b) Economic unattractiveness of expensive automated equipment
c) Limitations in the materials that could be used by an automated system
d) Unsuitability of the available automated fabrication technologies for large scale products
e) Managerial issues
The Serious problems that our construction industry is facing today are:
 Labour efficiency is alarmingly low and accident rate at construction sites is high
 Work quality is low
 Control of the construction site is insufficient and difficult, and skilled workforce is
vanishing.
Even if automation of various parts and products has evolved considerably,

construction remains largely as a manual practice. A promising new automation approach is
layered fabrication, generally known as Rapid Prototyping. Although several methods of rapid
prototyping have been developed and successful applications of these methods have been
reported in a large variety of domains including industrial tooling, medical, toy making etc,
currently Contour Crafting (CC) seems to be the only layer fabrication technology that is
uniquely applicable to construction of large structures such as houses which was introduced by
Khoshnevis in the year 2000.
The idea of Contour Crafting came to Khoshnevis while repairing cracks in his Los
Angeles home following a 1994 earthquake. Khoshnevis created a robot that can build large
structures by extruding semi-liquid material from a pump in inch-thick layers to form the
outside edges of an object, such as the wall of a building after 7 years of research and
development. The robot moves back and forth along a gantry installed at the construction site
to deposit each layer of the wall. After the exterior layers have been laid down, the robot
returns to pour concrete or other filler material into the hollow wall. In effect, CC will enable
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homes and other structures to be made from computer design software and constructed with the
help of robots.
2. CONTOUR CRAFTING
Contour Crafting (CC) is an additive fabrication technology that uses computer control
to make use of the superior surface-forming capability of troweling to create smooth and
accurate planar and free-form surfaces. Since ancient times, artists and craftsmen have used
simple tools such as sculpturing knives, putty knives, trowels and blades (shown in Figure 1),
with one or two planar surfaces for forming materials in paste form. The two trowels, which in
effect act as two solid planar surfaces, to create surfaces on the object being fabricated that are
exceptionally smooth and accurate is the main features of this technology. The main
advantages of CC compared with other layered fabrication processes are higher fabrication
speed, better surface quality, and a wider choice of materials.
Figure 1: Simple Historical Construction Tools

(Ref: Behrokh Khoshnevis, “Automated Construction by Contour Crafting-Related robotics
and information technologies”, Journal of Automation in Construction, 13 (2004), 5-19)
Even if there is versatility and effectiveness for fabricating complex free-form as well
as planar surfaces which can be seen by ancient ceramic containers, sculptures with complex
surface geometries and plaster works that have complicated shapes, the method of using these
simple but powerful tools is still manual, and their use is limited to model building and plaster
work in construction. In CC, computer control is used to take advantage of the superior surface
forming capability of troweling to create smooth and accurate, planar and free-form surfaces.
CC is a hybrid method that combines an extrusion process for forming the object surfaces and a
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filling process (pouring or injection) to build the object core. As shown in Figure 2, the
extrusion nozzle has a top and a side trowel. As the material is extruded, the traversal of the
trowels creates smooth outer and top surfaces on the layer. The side trowel can be deflected to
create non-orthogonal surfaces. The extrusion process builds only the outside edges (rims) of
each layer of the object. After complete extrusion of each closed section of a given layer, filler
material such as concrete can be poured to fill the area defined by the outside edges or rims.
Figure 2: Contour Crafting Process

Contour Crafting builds up shapes in layers by controlling the flow of liquid building
materials using two movable, programmable trowel-like tools deployed around a nozzle.
Khoshnevis's machines can create three-dimensional items in any desired shape like cubes and
boxes, bowls or domes, cylinders etc which are either geometrically regular or free-form. In
Khoshnevis's design, the nozzle begins by creating a hollow wall outline (one foot wide), and
one layer (6 inches) high, through the entire footprint of the building, external and internal
walls alike. On the next pass, it raises the hollow outline by another layer while filling in the
hollow left in the first pass with more material. Repetition of the process creates a solid cement
wall. The gantry system (an overhead beam mounted on two Uprights, running on parallel
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rails) could be used to create a succession of houses in a row, each programmed to have its own
design. Speed is limited by how fast each layer dries enough to allow another to be put on top.
The materials can be plaster, concrete, adobe, plastic or even wood particles mixed with
epoxy into a paste. Guided by computer programming based on analysis of CAD-CAM
representations, the Contour Crafting nozzle-and-trowel system moulds these materials into
shape. Contour Crafting is aimed at products, not prototypes. The use of the double trowels to
control a continuing flow of material from a nozzle is unique to the Contour Crafting process
and allows use of much cheaper and more durable materials, applied in thicker layers with
better control. So far, Khoshnevis has tested his machine with cement, but he believes a
mixture of mud and straw that is dried by the sun as it is deposited could be suitable. The main
advantage of this technology is the layering approach of CC that enables the creation of various
surface shapes using fewer different troweling tools than in traditional plaster handwork.
3. APPLICATION OF CONTOUR CRAFTING IN CONSTRUCTION
With Contour Crafting, a single house or a colony of houses, each with possibly a
different design, may be automatically constructed in a single run. Application of CC in
building construction is depicted in Figures 3 where a gantry system carrying the nozzle moves
on two parallel lanes installed at the construction site. Conventional structures can be built by
integrating the CC machine with a support beam, picking and positioning arm, and adobe
structures, such as the ones designed in Figure 4, may be built without external support
elements using shape features such as domes and vaults.
Figure 3: Construction of conventional buildings using CC
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Figure 4: Construction of adobe buildings using CC

In addition to the enormous economic potential, CC has been designed to deliver

improved quality of life, superior safety, and beneficial environmental impact. In this sense,
CC will enable the construction of custom-designed, low-cost housing with a level of quality
heretofore unobtainable. Further, safety elements inherent in the process will significantly
reduce the rate of on-the-job injuries that are so prevalent in the construction industry today,
thereby lowering the costs of insurance medical treatment etc.
Following are some interesting aspects of this Contour Crafting construction concept:
 Design Flexibility
CC enables architects to design structures with functional and exotic architectural

geometries that are difficult to realize using the current manual construction practice. Design of
luxury structures involving complex curves and other geometries can be done with ease.
 Paint-Ready Surfaces
The trowel surface controls the quality of surface finish in CC and hence it is
independent of the size of the nozzle orifice. Various additives such as reinforced fibre, gravel,
sand and other applicable materials that are available locally may be mixed and extruded
through the CC nozzle consequently. The surface quality in CC is such that no further surface
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preparation would be needed for painting surfaces, regardless of the choice of materials used.
Indeed an automated painting system may be integrated with CC.
 Multiple Materials
Various materials for outside surfaces and as fillers between surfaces may be used in
CC. Also, multiple materials that chemically react with one another may be fed through the CC
nozzle system and mixed in the nozzle barrel immediately before deposition. The quantity of
each material may be controlled by computer and correlated to various regions of the geometry
of the structure being built. This will make possible the construction of structures that contain
varying amounts of different compounds in different regions.
 Utility Conduits
Utility conduits may be built into the walls of a building structure precisely as dictated
by the CAD data and sample sections are made with CC and filled with concrete. Figure 5
depicts the Contour Crafted wall with utility conduits.
F
igure 5: Complex Wall Section
 Automated tiling of floors and walls
As shown in Figure 6, automated tiling of floors and walls may be integrated by

robotically delivering and spreading the material for adhesion of tiles to floors or walls. The
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tiles can be picked from a stack and accurately placed over the area treated with the adhesive
material by another robotic arm. These robotic arms may be installed on the same structure
which moves the CC nozzle.
Figure 6: Automated Tiling

(Source: “Automated Construction by Contour Crafting-Related robotics and information
technologies”, Journal of Automation in Construction)
 Reinforcement
As shown in Figure 7, Robotic modular imbedding of steel mesh reinforcement into

each layer may be devised.
Figure 7: Steel reinforcement modules &

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progressively constructed reinforcement mesh
The 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
built by CC. Then concrete may be poured between the rims of each layer to contain the steel
mesh. The mesh can follow the geometry of the structure. In this configuration the CC nozzle,
the steel feeder, and the concrete filler feeder are all on the same gantry system. Such a system
can create shapes with smooth outer surfaces and reinforced internal structure automatically
and in one setup.
Other advanced materials, such as the fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) can be used as an
alternative to traditional metal reinforcement. 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 because, the nozzle orifice in CC does not need to be very small.
Reinforcement can also be provided using the post-tensioning system. By the CC process,
accurate ducts can be generated. Similar to post-tensioned concrete construction, metal or FRP
wires can be fed through the ducts and then post-tensioned to provide reinforcement.
Figure 8: Reinforcement process of CC: (a) metal coil placed on a top layer, (b) a fresh layer of
extrudate covers the coil, and (c) cross sections of the fabricated part with the reinforcement
coil showing a reasonable adhesion between layers
Towards improving the strength of large housing structures built through CC, use of a variety
of reinforcements has been investigated. For example, Figure 8 shows pictures from
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experiments with coil reinforcement. Owing to the high extrusion pressures prevailing in CC
compared to other layered freeform fabrication, the extrudate thoroughly adheres itself around
the coils without causing any internal discontinuities. Similar results have been observed from
experiments with sand impregnation. Thus the use of reinforcements seems promising in CC
process.
 Automated plumbing
Contour Crafting construction system has the potential to build utility conduits within
walls because of its layer by layer fabrication method. 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 Figure 9, delivers the new pipe
segment and in case of copper pipes, it has a heater element (shown in red) in the form of a
ring. The inside (or outside) rim of each pipe segment is pre-treated 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
Figure 9: Plumbing modules & grippers

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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 9. For
easy pick up by the robotic assembly system, the needed components may be prearranged in a
tray. Various plumbing networks may be automatically imbedded in the structure using these
components.
 Automated electrical and communication line wiring
For automating electrical and communication line wiring, a modular approach may be
used in the course of constructing the structure by Contour Crafting. The modules, as shown in
Figure 10, have conductive segments for power and communication lines imbedded in
electrically non-conductive materials such as a polymer, and are connected modularly, much
like the case of plumbing. All modules are capable of being robotically fed and connected. The
task of grabbing the component from a delivery tray and connecting it to the specified
component already installed can be done with the help of a simple robotics gripper. As
specified by the plan, the automated construction system could properly position the outside
access modules behind the corresponding openings on the walls. Inserting fixtures through wall
openings into the automatically constructed network is the only manual part of the process.
Figure 10: Electrical modules and assembly process

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 Smart Materials
Accurate amounts of selected construction materials, such as smart concrete, may be

deposited precisely in the intended locations, since deposition in CC is controlled by computer.
This way the electric resistance, for example, of a carbon filled concrete may be accurately set
as dictated by the design. In an integrated and fully automated manner, elements such as strain
sensors, floor and wall heaters can be built into the structure.
 Automated painting
A spray painting robotics manipulator, attached to the CC main structure may paint
each wall according to desired specifications during or after layer wise construction of walls.
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.
3.1 COMMERCIAL APPLICATION
Consumers, Architects, and developers should not be limited in construction design by

excessive costs and labour constraints. Waste of materials at construction site must not only be
minimized, but eliminated. The length of construction project should be accelerated to cut out
the cost of financing long-term projects. And most importantly, humans should not be placed at
risk in dangerous construction site.
Contour Crafting can significantly reduce the cost of commercial construction. Contour
Crafting promises to eliminate waste of construction materials. Contour Crafting construction
projects will be extremely accelerated; for example, a 2000 square foot house can be
constructed in less than 24 hours. This rapid construction time minimizes the financing costs of
construction projects that typically take six months or longer to complete. While the costs of
manual labour will be significantly reduced, physical power will be exchanged for brain power
in the construction industry. For the first time women and the elderly will be able to take part
in the construction industry. Construction could become a consumer market, wherein a house
or other structure could be designed and built by the family that will occupy it. Reduced costs
and automated building will make construction accessible to anyone.
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3.2 LOW INCOME HOUSING
Considering the century, traditional methods of meeting the worlds housing demands
will not be sufficient. New and innovative means of constructing shelter must reduce the
alarming nature of the shelter problem that the world is facing at the onset of the 21 st century.
Contour Crafting technology is the best way to address the housing problem of the 21 st century.
Using materials readily available at the build site, construction by Contour Crafting can build
dignified houses or colony of houses with all the utilities for electrical and plumbing in less
than 24 hours (per house). Due to the nature of this Solid Free-From fabrication technology,
there will be minimal waste of construction material and almost non-existent labour costs and
labour injuries and fatalities which happen frequently at construction sites.
3.3 EMERGENCY HOUSING
Contour Crafting technology can deliver strong dignified houses to disaster victims
very rapidly. There are currently around 37 million uprooted people in the world, forced to flee
from their homes and seek shelter elsewhere, usually because of war, economic or natural
disaster. The sad reality of the situation is that it can take several months or years before
disaster victims are placed in permanent housing, many remain in primitive camps or even
homeless indefinitely. The UN and other humanitarian agencies do what they can to provide
victims with basic daily necessities such as food, water, and tents, but the extreme magnitude
of the problem limits their effectiveness in providing victims with suitable quality of living.
Construction by Contour Crafting can build a 2,000 square foot house with all utilities for
electrical and plumbing in less than 24 hours.
Contour Crafting technology is adaptable and can use in situ construction material, thus
eliminating the need to transport materials long distances, saving the time and costs associated
with transportation. Since Contour Crafting is an automated process, labour needs are highly
minimized allowing relief workers to allocate their time and effort to rebuilding local
infrastructure such as water sanitation and distribution systems, roads, electrical and
communication systems as well as irrigations systems. In this way Contour Crafting has the
potential of providing disaster survivors not only with dignified shelter, but also with more
resources to rebuild their lives and their communities.
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4. CONTOUR CRAFTING SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS AND TOOL
PATH ELEMENTS
4.1 OPERATIONAL FACTS:
The scale of the optimization problem can become too large when all aspects of the
technology are considered. Some practical assumptions are necessary regarding the limitations
and special features of the system in order to reduce the complexity of the problem. These are
the considerations which have been taken into account:
1. Structures are assumed to be 2.5 dimensional, meaning that each layer is similar to all other
layers except where windows or doors are located. It is also assumed that the nozzle starts and
ends at the same X-Y location for each layer.
2. In the construction process a nozzle (or nozzles in case of multiple nozzles or multiple
machines) has to complete fabricating a layer before moving on to the next layer.
3. The building model is sliced into layers before tool path optimization is performed. Then the
layout of each layer is converted into an Edge and Vertex model. Edges represent the wall, and
the Vertices represent the intersection, corner or the end point of the wall segments.
4. The construction time is related to the machine deposition time and air time (time spent
travelling without depositing material). Minimizing the machine idle time (air time) could save
a certain amount of building time in this layered fabrication process.
5. Within each layer the nozzle of the system has to finish depositing one wall segment
completely before starting a new wall segment so that it travels only between end points of the
wall segments.
6. In order to avoid collision between the nozzle and previously deposited walls, the nozzle
will be lifted up (one layer) once fabrication of a layer is completed.
7. The nozzle will be idle (i.e., encounter airtime) when traversing between walls or where
windows or doors are located.
8. Acceleration and deceleration times of the system are considered as fixed delays.
9. If multi-nozzle is applied, the nozzles are always working on the same layer at any point in
time. It is assumed that allowing the nozzles to work on different layers at the same time will
not increase the system efficiency.
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4.2. DEFINITION OF TOOL PATH
One of the advantages of utilizing the Contour Crafting technology instead of the
traditional way of construction is that CC can save considerable time and cost. The cost of
construction is related to time and energies consumed by the machine and the amount of
materials used. These costs can be evaluated once a tool path has been defined.
A tool path of Contour Crafting for a specific structure must describe the position,
orientation, velocity, and deposition rate of the nozzle during the entire construction period.
(See Figure 11 for a sample of a Contour Crafting tool path of a small structure).This
information is then converted into a sequence of machine tasks and then fed to the Contour
Crafting machine. If the time or energy spent on each machine task (such as deposition, nozzle
travelling or nozzle rotation) is converted into the equivalent cost, then the goal of optimization
would be finding a path with the minimum total cost associated with all machine tasks.
Therefore, the cost of deposition, travelling and rotation needs to be defined for calculating the
overall cost for the tool path.
Figure 11: Structure and its CC tool path

(Source: “Contour Crafting Process Plan Optimization”, Journal of Industrial and Systems
Engineering)
Cost of deposition depends on the flow rate of deposition and the velocity of the machine. For
a given deposition rate and machine speed, since the nozzle has to traverse along all the
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deposition edges once and only once, the overall deposition time is fixed for a structure.
Therefore, the cost of deposition will not affect the result of tool path optimization. Once the
machine parameters have been defined, cost of deposition for each wall segment can be
calculated according to its geometrical information.
Cost of travelling between edges is related to the cost of moving between vertices and the cost
of rotation along the edges. This cost can be estimated according to the relevant position of
edges. Since the nozzle of the Contour Crafting machine has to orient itself to be perpendicular
to the tangent of the wall segment, the nozzle may need to be re-oriented when travelling
between edges. In order to determine the Cost of travelling, cost of moving (Euclidian
distance) and the re-orientation cost of the nozzle between the end points of edges must be
calculated.
Cost of moving between end points can be determined once the distance between two points
and the velocity of the machine are known. Sometimes the nozzle has to be lifted up and
lowered down to avoid obstacles, such as previously deposited segments of the same layer. In
this case, the cost of lifting up and lowering down also need to be included in the cost of
moving.
Cost of rotation between segments can be evaluated according to the relative orientation of the
two segments. However, in the real system, the degree of rotation of the nozzle is limited
because the hoses and wires attached to the nozzle may tangle and become damaged if the
nozzle rotates without any limitation. For this reason a mechanical stop is used on the rotation
union to prevent the nozzle from turning more than 360 degrees in either direction. Nozzle
rotation direction and degree of rotation need to be adjusted if the mechanical stop impedes the
re-orientation transition of the nozzle in a given direction. Therefore, cost of rotation depends
on not only the rotation degree but also on the start and end positions of the stopper on the
rotation union. Cost of rotation between each pair of wall segments needs to be calculated
before optimization is performed.
4.3. CONSTRAINT DEFINITIONS
The following physical constraints also need to be observed during the construction process:
1. Nozzle idle time cannot be too long otherwise concrete will solidify and clog the pipeline.
2. Nozzle should not collide with the previously deposited layer when travelling. Nozzle can be
lifted up one layer once it reaches a segment of the current layer that is already built and is
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standing in its travel path. In such a circumstance, the nozzle will be lowered down before it
starts to deposit material for a new wall segment. The cost of lifting up and lowering down the
nozzle will be considered in tool path planning.
3. The lower layer must be able to support the upper layer, therefore, the time interval between
depositing subsequent layers cannot be shorter than the critical limit. At the same time,
subsequent layers must be able to adhere and this happens when the lower layer upon which
the new layer is deposited is wet enough. Therefore, the interval between depositing
subsequent layers should not exceed the critical limit for inter-layer adhesion. Both constraints
are related to the time interval between depositing subsequent layers. This interval is equal to
the overall time of constructing a layer.
4. When layers accumulate, the layer underneath must be solidified enough to support the
overall weight of multiple layers above it. The overall weight on a layer is proportional to the
number of layers above it. Hence this weight is proportional to the overall time of constructing
a layer. Once the construction time of each layer is calculated a chart that shows the
relationship between the weight of upper layers and construction time can be used to configure
this constraint.
5. FUTURE RESEARCH PLAN
For full scale construction application, several research are been carried out for the
development of new nozzle assemblies. With the new nozzles, it is intended to first fabricate
full scale sections of various building features such as sections of walls with conduits built in,
and support less roofs and perform various structural analysis and testing using a wide variety
of candidate materials. The new nozzle design, shown in Figure 13, has the capability of full 6
axis positioning when mounted on a XYZ gantry system and can co-extrude both outer sides
and filler materials. The design incorporates rigid double-coaxial pipes for material delivery.
The nozzle design also confirms to concurrent embedding of steel reinforcement modules. This
nozzle assembly will be capable of building a wide variety of curved structures as designed by
architects. In devising the construction control software, we will benefit from the ancient body
of knowledge that is currently being harnessed by CalEarth for building support less closed
structures. An example of a clever and ancient manual method of constructing such support
less structures is shown in Figure 14 for construction of domes and vaults.
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Figure 13: Six axis nozzle design for concurrent rim and filler material delivery and
conformance to reinforcement imbedding
The corresponding deposition pattern, inspired by these ancient methods, could be such
as the one schematically illustrated in Figure 15 and it can be made possible with the new CC
nozzle which provides the maximum positioning flexibility. We can analytically evaluate the
performance characteristics of various deposition patterns and implement the most desirable
approaches.
Figure 14: Manual construction of adobe structures using bricks

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Figure 15: CC approach to fabricate support less structures
Several extensive experiments have been conducted to optimize the CC process to produce a
variety of 2.5D and 3D parts with square, convex, and concave features, some filled with
concrete, as shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16: CC in operation and representative 2.5&3D shapes and parts filled with concrete
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5.1 ALTERNATIVE ROBOTICS APPROACH
The process was depicted in Figures 3 and 4 as using a gantry robot that has to be large
enough to build an entire house within its operating envelope and lays one continuous bed for
each layer. Such an approach is not without its attractions, but it requires a large amount of site
preparation and a large robot structure. An approach involving the coordinated action of
multiple mobile robots is to be preferred. The mobile robotics approach depicted in Figure17
has several advantages including ease of transportation and setup, the possibility of concurrent
construction where multiple robots work on various sections of the structure to be constructed
and the possibility of scalable deployment (in number) of equipment.
A construction mobile robot may use a conventional joint structure and be equipped
with material tanks as well as material delivery pump and pipes. The end effector of the robot
could carry a CC nozzle that can reach from ground level all the way to the top of a wall. If the
mobile robot arm could be made of a rigid structure, position sensing at the end effector may
not be necessary. Instead, a position sensor (e.g.-a laser tracker) may be mounted at a fixed
location, and the related retro reflectors may be installed on each mobile robot base. In this
configuration, the robot does not engage in fabrication while moving. Once it reaches a pre
defined post (mobile platform post), it anchors itself by extending some solid rods from its
bottom. Then it starts the fabrication from the last point fabricated while at the previous post.
Figure 17: Construction by Mobile robots

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This arrangement is routinely practiced in some industrial applications such as robotic

welding of large parts, such as in ship building. Roof construction may or may not need
support beams. Support less structures such as domes and vaults may be built by mobile robots.
For planar roofs, beams may be used. Under each beam a thin sheet may be attached. The
beams may be picked and positioned on the structure by two robots working collaboratively,
each being positioned on the opposite sides outside of the structure. Delivery of roof material
becomes challenging with mobile robots and may be done by a robot inside the structure. This
robot may progressively deliver the material over the beam panels as each beam is placed on
the roof. For the last few beams this robot could exit the structure and perform the delivery
from outside. An alternative approach is to use the NIST RoboCrane system which may be
installed on a conventional crane as shown in the lower part of Figure 18. (The top part of
Figure 18 shows the RoboCrane moving a steel beam.) Besides the gripper for beams, the
RoboCrane may carry a material tank and a special CC nozzle for roof material delivery.
Figure 18: RoboCrane for roof construction

6. EXTRATERRESTRIAL APPLICATIONS
An ideal feature for building structures using in-situ materials is the ability to construct
support less structures. Therefore various plans are carried out to explore the applicability of
the CC technology for building habitats on the Moon and Mars. In the recent years there has
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been growing interest in the idea of using these planets as platforms for solar power generation,
science, industrialization, exploration of our Solar System and beyond, and for human
colonization. In particular, the moon has been suggested as the ideal location for solar power
generation (and subsequent microwave transmission to earth via satellite relay stations).
Once solar power is available, it should be possible to adapt the current Contour
Crafting technology to the lunar and other environments to use this power and in-situ resources
to build various forms of infrastructures such as roads and buildings. . Using this technique,
they propose sending robots to seed the surface of the moon with the basic infrastructure for a
moon base (landing pads, roads, hangars, etc). Once the construction is completed, human crew
could lift off and move into their new home. The lunar regolith, may be used as the
construction material. Other researchers have shown that lunar regolith can be sintered using
microwave to produce construction materials such as bricks. Researchers envision a Contour
Crafting system that uses microwave power to turn the lunar regolith into lava paste and
extrude it through its nozzle to create various structures. Alternatively, lunar regolith may be
premixed with a small amount of polymer powder and moderately heated to melt the polymer
and then the mix can be extruded by the CC nozzle to build green state (uncured) depositions
in the desired forms. Post sintering of the deposition may then be done using microwave
power.
Understanding of the following is crucial for successful planetary construction using Contour
Crafting:
(a) The fluid dynamics and heat transfer characteristics of the extrudate under partial-gravity
levels
(b) Processes such as curing of the material under lunar or Martian environmental conditions
(c) Structural properties of the end product as a function of gravity level
(d) Effects of extrudate material composition on the mechanical properties of the constructed
structure.
One of the ultimate goals of the Human Exploration and Development of Space
(HEDS) program of NASA is colonization, i.e., building habitats for long term occupancy by
humans. The proposed approach has direct application to NASA’s mission of exploration, with
the ultimate goal of in-situ resource utilization for automated construction of habitats in non-
terrestrial environments. In such a circumstance, Contour Crafting technology is a very
26
promising method for such construction. Figure 20 depicts an imaginative view of the
planetary construction that can be done using Contour Crafting
Figure 20: Lunar construction

(Source: www.contourcrafting.org)
7. ADVANTAGES OF CONTOUR CRAFTING
The huge advantage of Contour crafting (3D-printing) a house is that you no longer
need confined to rectilinear construction methods. Our houses and apartment buildings are
largely right angles because they’re made out of dimensional lumber, beams, bricks, cinder
blocks, I-beams etc. But with 3D printing you are no longer limited by conventional geometry
and can take advantage of complex and beautiful geometry which can be built in a fraction of
the time. Khoshnevis's machines can create 3D items in any shape, cubes, rings, disks, either
geometrically regular or free-form. The materials can be plaster, concrete, adobe, plastic or
even wood particles mixed with epoxy into a paste.
OTHER ADVANTAGES:
 CC promises custom-designed houses completed in one day
27
 CC can provide dignified and affordable housing constructed for low-income
populations
 Comfortable and liveable emergency shelters (not tents) may be constructed rapidly by
CC for long-term use
 CC offers construction without waste, noise, dust, or harmful emission
 CC can deliver construction without accidents, injuries, or litigation
 New architectural designs for homes, neighbourhoods and cities without attendant
increase in cost may be made possible by CC
 Simplicity of construction logistics and management
 Friendliness to the environment due to low emissions and waste less operation
 Significantly reduced energy usage compared to manual construction
 Exceptionally smooth and accurate surfaces are created because of the elimination of
surface discontinuities
 Fabrication of a part is considerably faster because the layer thickness is typically much
larger than layer thickness in other rapid prototyping processes
 A wide variety of materials can be used, including thermosets, thermoplastics, metal
and ceramic pastes mixed with a binder, and also materials that are not commonly used
in rapid prototyping such as plaster, cement, clay, and concrete
 Better structural properties afforded by the large size of the nozzle orifice which allows
the addition of filler materials such as loose or continuous fiber
 Smooth internal surfaces of casting moulds can be rapidly fabricated using the process
Environmental impacts:
 less total material use
 less total energy use for all construction activities
 less material and energy waste during construction
 less transportation of material, equipment, and people
During the building process, we will have:
 less injuries in construction and transportation-related activities
 less worker skin contact with hazardous substances
 less exposure to airborne substances such as dust and chemicals
 less noise exposure
 easier to establish procedures for hazard and failure analysis during construction
During the use phase, we will have:
 more efficient buildings, therefore less energy use in HVAC
28
 efficient internal space use for occupants
 increased structural strength and durability due to less aging material
 increased seismic safety due to improved construction design and material
8. LIMITATIONS AND MAJOR CHALLENGES
CC can't install doors or windows and Contour Crafting has certain limitations arising
from the use of the side trowel. For example, very small hollow volumes, such as small holes,
can't be made because they cannot accommodate the side trowel. Also it is not possible to use
the side trowel to create features that are relatively thin (e.g., a vertical blade). In such cases,
the extrusion deposition thickness may exceed the feature thickness.
The principle feature of the Contour Crafting process is the trowel. However, despite
the apparent simplicity of its principle, there are major challenges that we must overcome to
successfully implement the concept. Two especially noteworthy challenges are:
a) Complicated shrinkage patterns due to bulk deposition of various materials
b) Complications in generation of tool (i.e., nozzle assembly) path, especially for sharp
comers.
Another problem when you print large objects using contour crafting (ex: Makerbot) is
that, it warps when it is cooled down. The reason is that the thin layer of plastic is laid down
one at a time. Before the second layer is laid down, the first layer already cools down. So the
second layer pulls the edges of part toward the centre and the part is bowed. After several
experiments, a solution was found. Alternating voids were added to a layer between the raft
and the actual parts. This will release the stress from the first layer. Then holes were made in
the main body of the part to avoid the edges of part to warp.
9. CONCLUSION
Automated Construction using Contour Crafting was studied. Important advantages of

CC compared with other layered fabrication processes are better surface quality, higher
fabrication speed, and a wider choice of materials. 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
29
manual approach, is another candidate application domain for CC. Contour crafting system
characteristics and tool path elements was evaluated.
The CC method is capable of completing the construction of an entire house in a matter

of few hours (e.g., less than two days for a 200 metre square, two story building) instead of
several months as commonly practiced. Because of its accurate additive fabrication approach,
Contour Crafting could result in little or no material waste. Further, safety elements inherent in
the process will significantly reduce the rate of on-the-job injuries that are so prevalent in the
construction industry today, thereby lowering the costs of litigation, insurance, and medical
treatment. We also studied about the extra-terrestrial applications and future research plans.
30
REFERENCES
1. Jing Zhang, Behrokh Khoshnevis (2010), “Contour Crafting Process Plan

Optimization”, Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering Vol. 4, No. 1, pp 33-46.
2. Behrokh Khoshnevis, (January 2004), “Automated Construction by Contour Crafting-
Related robotics and information technologies”, Journal of Automation in Construction
– Special Issue: Vol 13, Issue 1, pp 5-19.
3. Balaguer C., M. Abderrahim, S. Boudjabeur, P. Aromaa, K. Kahkonen, S. Slavenburg,
D. Seward, T. Bock, R. Wing, & B. Atkin (2002), “FutureHome: An Integrated
Construction Automation Approach”, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, pp 55-
66.
4. Khoshnevis, B., Russell, R., Kwon, H., & Bukkapatnam, S. (2001-a), “Contour
Crafting – A Layered Fabrication Technique”, Special Issue of IEEE Robotics and
Automation Magazine, 8:3, pp 33-42.
5. B. Khoshnevis and G. Bekey, “Automated Construction using Contour Crafting –
Applications on Earth and Beyond,” Proceedings of the 19th International Symposium
on Automation and Robotics in Construction, Gaithersburg, Maryland (2002) 489-494.
6. www.contourcrafting.org
7. http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/khoshnevis_contour_crafting.html
8. New Scientist, “New Process Could Print Houses”,
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994764
9. The New York Times, “Robots that Build (but Still Won't Do Windows)”,
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/garden/11ROBO.html
31

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AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION USING CONTOUR CRAFTING

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

Asso. Prof VASUDEV R

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Toc H INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

Asso. Prof VASUDEV R

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Toc H INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Guided by: Head of the department:

Asso. Prof Vasudev R Prof. Lathi Karthi

Department of Civil engineering Department of Civil engineering

I am thankful to Asso. Prof. Lekshmi M S, seminar co-ordinator, Department of Civil

Keywords: Contour Crafting, Housing Construction, Construction on other

Even if automation of various parts and products has evolved considerably,

Figure 1: Simple Historical Construction Tools

Figure 2: Contour Crafting Process

3. APPLICATION OF CONTOUR CRAFTING IN CONSTRUCTION

Figure 3: Construction of conventional buildings using CC

Figure 4: Construction of adobe buildings using CC

In addition to the enormous economic potential, CC has been designed to deliver

CC enables architects to design structures with functional and exotic architectural

 Automated tiling of floors and walls

As shown in Figure 6, automated tiling of floors and walls may be integrated by

Figure 6: Automated Tiling

As shown in Figure 7, Robotic modular imbedding of steel mesh reinforcement into

Figure 7: Steel reinforcement modules &

The simple modular components shown in this figure may be delivered by an

Figure 9: Plumbing modules & grippers

 Automated electrical and communication line wiring

Figure 10: Electrical modules and assembly process

Accurate amounts of selected construction materials, such as smart concrete, may be

3.1 COMMERCIAL APPLICATION

Consumers, Architects, and developers should not be limited in construction design by

3.3 EMERGENCY HOUSING

4.1 OPERATIONAL FACTS:

Figure 11: Structure and its CC tool path

4.3. CONSTRAINT DEFINITIONS

5. FUTURE RESEARCH PLAN

Figure 14: Manual construction of adobe structures using bricks

Figure 17: Construction by Mobile robots

This arrangement is routinely practiced in some industrial applications such as robotic

Figure 18: RoboCrane for roof construction

Figure 20: Lunar construction

7. ADVANTAGES OF CONTOUR CRAFTING

 CC promises custom-designed houses completed in one day

8. LIMITATIONS AND MAJOR CHALLENGES

Automated Construction using Contour Crafting was studied. Important advantages of

The CC method is capable of completing the construction of an entire house in a matter

1. Jing Zhang, Behrokh Khoshnevis (2010), “Contour Crafting Process Plan

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