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AddConLab

Address: 3127 Research Drive, State College PA 16801

Website: AddConLab

Orange multi-axis industrial CNC robots being used for 3d-printing concrete forms.

The Additive Construction Lab (AddConLab) is a collaborative effort between the College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Architecture. It is housed at Civil Infrastructure Testing and Evaluation Laboratory (CITEL).

The goal is to explore the use of additive manufacturing at construction scale.

The lab includes two large ABB robots, as well as machines for printing concrete and clay-based mixtures.

A study in shapes and scales

3d-Printed concrete forms built in the AddConLab and at the NASA 3-Printed Habitat Challenge Competition.

Two views of highly articulated, curving concrete form 3d-printed by specialized industrial CNC robot.
Exterior of 3d-printed hollow concrete form, showing hundreds of stacked layers of printed concrete.
Interior close-up of 3d-printed hollow concrete form, showing stacked, offset layers of printed concrete.
Interior of 3d-printed hollow concrete form, showing stacked, offset layers of printed concrete.
Overhead view of ABB industrial robot 3d-printing a large hollow concrete form.
Inside a huge warehouse, large Caterpillar excavator equipment lifts industrial robots into place to make scale models of human-habitable enclosures from printed concrete.
Orange arm of multi-axis industrial robot being used for 3d-printing concrete.