How can 3DPrinted Homes on Mars address Earths housing crisis

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the world’s population is growing and

urbanizing so fast

that we will need to build over the next

20 years

as many houses as we have built in the

past 2000 years

to overcome this challenge a variety of

innovative solutions are being proposed

most of them on earth but some may be on

mars

colonizing space is the next great leap

for humankind

of all the planets in our solar system

mars

is the most similar to earth and

considered the best option

for human colonization availability of

materials and energy

makes it possible to construct a

permanent habitat

a first step toward a human settlement

but before talking about living on mars

let me tell you about

my life on earth i grew up in a small

village near lisbon

in portugal while growing up it became

clear that some people still struggled

with poverty

and lacked proper housing perceiving

this reality

instilled in me the desire to change it

i also loved playing with legos

thus being an architect was something i

desired since a very young age

when i was 10 years old the country

changed

from dictatorship to democracy for a

period

things were a bit utopian for instance

students at an input regarding how

schools were run

this participatory exercise often led to

more effective and inclusive outcomes

something that has inspired my approach

until today

when i was 15 years old my family moved

to a small town

in high school a great science teacher

inspired me to be a scientist

i chose architecture because its human

side was more appealing

but my approach is very influenced by

science

i went to college in lisbon but one year

i decided to commute from home in this

daily journey

i crossed a variety of landscapes when

the countryside

started to fade there was illegal

housing

which looked chaotic in the outskirts

governmental housing was predominant and

dull

however the city center where the school

of architecture was located

was diverse and beautiful

this live experience prompted me to

think of ways

to provide for most customized

affordable housing

and create environments with the

qualities we value in historical

neighborhoods

my undergraduate thesis proposed the use

of computer control

design and production systems to achieve

this goal

the thesis was published as a book by

the national laboratory of civil

engineering

where i worked after graduation

the quest for knowledge to materialize

this vision led me to mit

where i met inspiring researchers who

eventually became my advisors

my master thesis was focused on

understanding

people’s perception of order and

diversity

the pg thesis addressed the development

of a design system

that allowed users to create their own

houses in the style of an award-winning

architect

who could not distinguish the output

designs from his own

the following years were dedicated to

teaching future architects

how to develop their own design systems

then

the focus gradually shifted to the

production system

two paradigms were identified the first

considered the fabrication

of standard components that could be

combined in different ways

to make up different houses the lego

approach

the second paradigm was the 3d printing

of houses at full scale

in 3d printing objects are made by

extruding to a nozzle

a material that hardens when deposited

thereby creating the object

layer by layer the process includes

generating the form of the object in the

computer

then slicing it to obtain the past

followed by the nozzle

during extrusion then generating the

instructions to control the machine

holding the nozzle and then printing

by moving to penn state five years ago i

found the means required to fully

explore 3d printing

penn state as a strong culture of

multidisciplinary collaboration

and financial resources i teamed up with

colleagues

from various scientific fields and

together

we participated in the nasa cd printed

mars habitat challenge

the goal was to develop the technology

to print shelters on mars

using local resources but eyeing its

future application on earth

the challenge had two parallel workflows

one was a virtual construction of a

shelter on mars

and the other was the actual printing on

earth

conditions on mars are inhospitable and

pose big challenge to human life

the expense and limitation of space

travel

make it necessary to use indigenous

materials and resources

our strategy followed our research to

develop

low-cost housing on earth using

pragmatic design

and 3d printing the construction process

involved like a robotic arm printing a

gel polymer concrete mixture

called mars crit which is made of

materials

found on the red planet this strategy

require modeling the relations between

three different but related subsystems

concerning materials printing system

and design we characterize

material behavior by checking its

printability

and its shape deformation during the

printing process

results were then considered in the

design of the tool path

compensating for material deformation we

also studied the affordances

of the printing process in terms of

printable forms and structure

an additional concern was the creation

of a statically placing surfaces

another aspect was the development of

seamless graded transition between

different materials

such as concrete and glass or cork

which could be recycled from spaceships

these materials

allow to optimize the structural thermal

and optical performance of the habitat

while decreasing the use of material

and energy resources

the design of the shelter was based on

constraints derived from our study of

materials behavior and the printing

system

these constraints were encoded into a

dramatic design

system that allowed to explore

different design configurations and

identify optimal ones

which were then fed into a construction

simulator

among multiple options we chose one to

illustrate our concept

the shelter is composed of modular units

each unit

consists of a protective shell made from

mars grids

and a lighter interior built from

recycled plastics

we manipulated the seamless transition

from concrete to glass

and to cork the glass gradient increases

towards the top

to provide for ambient light the core

gradient

increases towards the exterior to create

a protective layer

and chilly habitat from cosmic radiation

and low temperatures

there are four units for work living

sleeping and gardening anti-chambers on

each end of the habitat

enable access from the exterior and

emergency exits

the first unit includes a wet lab on the

first floor

and in individual work spaces on the

second floor

the second unit owes the dining area

kitchen and bathrooms on the first floor

and the leisure area on the second floor

the third unit

includes the sleeping quarters on the

first floor and a workout area

on the second floor the design was

conceived to enable visual communication

between the various units and floors

offering a spatially rich living

environment

the first unit contains life support and

hydroponic systems that produce food and

oxygen

each unit can be sealed and will have

life support capability

during repairs the printing system is

mounted on a rover

it includes silos where different

process materials are stored

for instance concrete mixtures with sand

cork or glass as

aggregates each of these silos is

connected to a conveyor

to a dual mixer and pump each pump mixes

the concrete with water

and then extrudes it by changing the

relative speed of

these pumps it’s possible to obtain

concretes

with different gradients these are

extrudes to a hose

connected to a nozzle mounted on a

robotic arm

a retractable dome guarantees a seal and

control environment

with proper conditions for printing

once at the desired location the robot

levels the ground

and digs a trench then the dome is

closed

and printing begins first the foundation

footing

then the ground slab then the walls

penetrating frames are placed where

required

as walls are printed when reaching the

proper level

the robot constructs the floors then it

prints the inclined walls

forming the roof enclosing the habitat

one model is constructed the rover moves

to print the next module

and so on until the whole habitat is

built

then the habitat is sealed by enclosing

the ports

and placing connectors between units

these connectors can also seal units

in the event of an emergency stairs

rails and furniture are then printed

using small printers and the

installations are mounted

the habitat is then ready to inhabit

supported by 3d printing technology and

advances in material science

our multi-disciplinary approach explores

various interrelated topics that inform

and transform design and construction

processes

and the language of architecture

the same parametric design system used

to generate optimized designs for mers

was also used for earth because of the

differences in

environmental conditions the generated

designs are different in the two

scenarios

the construction simulator allowed us to

design the printing setting with rigor

demonstrate its feasibility and qualify

for the finals of the challenge

at the competition we built for the

first time ever

a fully enclosed 3d printing structure

at construction scale

without any support structure

achievements like these can be

accomplished only in a research

environment

where teamwork elevates individual

efforts

where researchers from various

backgrounds and disciplines

united around the common goal

collaborate to develop the science

the technology and the design required

to succeed

innovative design and construction

technologies developed to overcome

the shortage of housing on earth were

used to design a habitat

to support the human exploration of mars

but the lessons learned from this effort

can impact

the way we design and build on earth

according to the united nations 900

million people worldwide

lived in slums in 2018 a number that is

expected to double

by 2025.

3d printing technology will allow us to

build more affordable homes in a short

time

helping to overcome homelessness the

houses will be customized to meet the

needs of their users

but also adapted to their environment

reducing the use of energy

and material resources and these will be

sourced locally

further reducing the impacts on the

environment

but not only houses we can even build

bridges

or playgrounds and our infrastructure as

needed

in short this technology will allow us

to build better

quicker cheaper and more sustainably

help preserve our planet and enable

an equal future for all thank you

you