Sure I watched it. I was not convinced. Handwaving is not the same as research.
It may be true that fixtures could be set into place in an automated way. Its not true that they can be connected. And certainly no existing fixture is ready to be installed this way.
Housing construction depends upon massive efficiencies of scale. All the new fixtures for these imaginary houses would be designed differently (for robotic installation, not hand-installation). They will start out at a price many multiples of existing fixtures. They will go down ONLY if this process becomes very, very common.
So, maybe this could be used to make novelty houses for the rich. That's about it. The video makes grand claims about cheap housing for the masses. That is preposterous. Folks in India are not suffering from expensive housing because construction is a dangerous occupation. Its land and materials that are expensive. Labor is the cheapest part of their equation I think.
I think they may be aiming for something like Katrina homes. Or any other refugee situation. See some more refugees crossing the border, squirt a few extra refugee houses where they fit. Prefab is probably still cheaper.
You just need to build modular parts, as the video shows (polymer blocks with embedded conductors, that slot together, was the example for electronics. There was also a demo (strike that, computer rendering) of plumbing soldering done by a machine.)
Comments
Sure I watched it. I was not convinced. Handwaving is not the same as research.
It may be true that fixtures could be set into place in an automated way. Its not true that they can be connected. And certainly no existing fixture is ready to be installed this way.
Housing construction depends upon massive efficiencies of scale. All the new fixtures for these imaginary houses would be designed differently (for robotic installation, not hand-installation). They will start out at a price many multiples of existing fixtures. They will go down ONLY if this process becomes very, very common.
So, maybe this could be used to make novelty houses for the rich. That's about it. The video makes grand claims about cheap housing for the masses. That is preposterous. Folks in India are not suffering from expensive housing because construction is a dangerous occupation. Its land and materials that are expensive. Labor is the cheapest part of their equation I think.
"cheap housing for the masses"
I think they may be aiming for something like Katrina homes. Or any other refugee situation. See some more refugees crossing the border, squirt a few extra refugee houses where they fit. Prefab is probably still cheaper.
You just need to build modular parts, as the video shows (polymer blocks with embedded conductors, that slot together, was the example for electronics. There was also a demo (strike that, computer rendering) of plumbing soldering done by a machine.)