Bees and wasps have inspired British and Swiss scientists to make structures in flight.
The researchers have managed to create a mini-swarm of drones to print 3D structures, we learn in an article published in the journal
Nature
and relayed by Futura Sciences.
Drones act similarly to bees cooperating to build the nest.
They are autonomous and their action is coordinated.
A human supervisor stands ready in case of trouble.
Some drones have a print head on board and others have sensors.
This allows them to assess the precision of the impression which is five millimeters.
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Two structures made
The researchers succeeded in creating several cement-based structures.
On the video published on YouTube, we can see the construction of a first viscous cement cylinder 18 cm high, printed in 28 layers.
There is a second cylinder of 2.05 meters which is composed of an insulating foam on 72 layers.
The challenge is to get enough precision to build or repair large structures that are high up or difficult to access.
The scaffolding would then become useless.
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