Casa Covida

Abstract

Casa Covida advances large scale earthen additive manufacturing by establishing new methods for the creation of interconnected, partially enclosed dome structures using a lightweight SCARA robotic arm and custom toolpathing software in combination with traditional earthen construction techniques. In the time of Covid-19, digital fabrication and construction are made difficult by a diminished supply chain and the safety concerns associated with a large team. In this project, local material, dug from the site itself is used for construction coordinated by a team of four people working in a remote location. Three rooms are printed on site 500 mm at a time by moving the 3D printer between stations connected by a low cost 4th axis constructed from plywood. This system allows essentially simultaneous construction between domes, continuously printing without waiting for drying time on one structure so that a continuous cycle of printing can proceed through the three stations 2-4 times in a day, thereby minimizing machine downtime. The machine control software used in this project has been developed from the framework of Potterware, a tool built by our team to allow non-technical users to design and 3D print functional ceramics through an interactive web interface.