Iridescence Print: Robotically Printed Lightweight Mesh Structures

This article presents a novel robot-based 3D printing technique for the automated fabrication of nonstandard large-scale lightweight structures. The approach offers unique advantages over conventional approaches to 3D printing: It can be performed freely in space, it is scalable, and it enables the fabrication of structures from a filament 3D printing process. A first full-scale demonstration case-the architectural installation Iridescence Print-was exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Based on ongoing research and teaching activities, the installation exemplifies a new area of research in the field of 3D printing: robotically printed lightweight mesh structures.