A team of tiny flying robots, using coordinates programmed by several architects, was recently able to build a 6 meter high tower.
According to our source, the project was conceived through the collaboration of a team of roboticists and architects at ETH Zurich.
The robots, which are tiny quadcopters, run off battery power and navigate the room with the help of environmental details, and several motion cameras positioned along the walls to help feed their bearings. Each robot flew autonomously without outside control. Before the project began, each one was uploaded with the data it needed to lay out each block in its exact coordinates, and then off they went.
Take a look at the video of these little guys in actions.
What’s neat is that each robot has it’s own charging station on the walls nearby, so once it’s battery levels get low it has a place to fly back to and recharge before getting back to work. Each robot was able to place roughly 100 bricks per hour if we take into consideration its charging times.
The tower, is the 1:100 scale model of a concept “vertical village” that the teams designed. The actual structure, should it ever be built, would be approximately 600 meters high, with each brick being the designated living space of someone living in the structure. At capacity it would be able to house 30, 000 people. Think something like Habitat ’67 but five times larger, and shaped like a tower.
The current tower is planned to become a permanent addition to the FRAC Centre near Paris.
In other news, check out some cool concepts like the Toyota Fun-Vii Concept Car and the Tetra-Shed.
