I had a strange idea recently based on two links that popped up in the past few days. One, from DECAFBAD’s latest batch of quick links, is about a robotic system that’s basically a gigantic plotter. The trick is, it uses concrete instead of ink to basically print a house from computerized plans. The other nifty thing (from an e-mail list I’m on) is a combination of concrete and optic fibers called “LiTraCon“, which is basically transparent concrete.
Those two articles got me wondering if the two technologies could be combined somehow… I’ve got this kinda goofy sci-fi mental image of a robotic system that could be launched to Mars ahead of any science team and which could have a base camp shelter, complete with windows to let in natural light, all built and ready to occupy before the astronauts even leave Earth…
I used to build ‘drip castles’ on the beach when I was a kid. You’d take a slurry of water and sand and let it run through a gap in your cupped fingers. The globules of mud would build up into strange, kinda alien looking towers that would slowly dissolve as the water drained out of them. It’s fun to think of a robot up on Mars doing the same sort of thing, but with more permanent materials.
Still, assuming you can get a gadget like that working, the water is going to be a problem. I’m pretty sure the gadget can find sand and gravel on Mars. I mean, we’ve already got robots that are doing that up there… It’d probably have to carry it’s own supply of cement powder, and that’s pretty heavy, so having it carry water as well would almost certainly be too much.
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