3D printing is slowly becoming the norm when it comes to construction work. Instead of building houses brick by brick, giant 3D printers lay the foundations for us. China wants to take that a step further with the very first 3D-printed dam.
However, while 3D printed construction combines automation and human labour, China's version is fully automated. This means that the dam will be built by robots with no human workers helping.
The world’s first 3D-printed dam
Reports say that the 3D-printed dam is going to be called the Yangqu Hydropower Plant. Based on a research paper published by the Journal of Tsinghua University, it aims to provide electricity to all of the Henan Province should it end up being successful.
Apparently, the 3D-printed dam is going to be 590-feet tall as it is set to provide electricity for more than 100 million people in the aforementioned province. It goes without saying that this is the biggest 3D printing project a country has planned thus. If successful, the dam's possible success could make this technology more commonplace.
Trying to make a dam through 3D printing is hard enough but doing so without human hands is going to be tricky. Admittedly, China has been building various constructions with 3D printing already but this is still a huge risk. Only time will tell if all this pays off.
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No humans, just a bunch of dam robots
Robots in the form of AI-powered bulldozers, trucks, excavators, pavers, and rollers will be building the 3D-printed dam for China. Using all this AI will supposedly result in forming the "largest 3D printer" as they expect to see the dam come to life.
Though the use of AI and robots has been confirmed, the actual technology used to handle all of these robots hasn't been revealed yet. Hearing about robots doing the work of humans is enough to get people worried and the fact its technology isn't being disclosed yet might lead to some paranoia.
While 3D printing has been used more and more lately, it's still new technology. The fact that this is the first dam being built with 3D printing shows that but it is exciting to see. Hopefully, none of the bulldozers or trucks go mad with power.