Homes are smart, why can't the construction process be smart as well? Advancements in technology are making 3D printing smart, able to monitor what it's printing.

There have been a number of 3D-printing robots rolled out lately that can squirt out a house, but Tecnalia in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) has come up with one that pays attention to what it's doing. Called Cogiro, it is billed as the first cable-driven robot that can print large structural parts or even small buildings on site while monitoring if the work is drying properly.

At first glance, Cogiro looks less like a robot and more like a giant square frame measuring 15 x 11 x 6 m (50 x 36 x 20 ft) with the name of a Japanese movie monster. The frame houses a network of cables and pulleys that support a central working head that can move in three different planes and point in three different directions. Originally, this was used to study such tasks as how a cable-driven robot can move pallets about a warehouse, but now it has expanded into the building trade.

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