The Full Scale House 3D Printed by Robotic Arms Completes in Muscatine 

Slashing Costs by Tens of Thousands, RIC Technology Revolutionizes 3D Construction

Muscatine, Iowa – The second 3D-printed house in Muscatine has completed construction by the leading 3D construction company Alquist 3D, powered by RIC Technology’s cutting-edge robotic arm based 3D printing system. 

The construction broke ground in October this year. In November, Alquist 3D finished printing the home’s ten-foot-tall exterior walls, which is what 3D printing is responsible for. 

This is Iowa’s second 3D printed house; it’s also the second full-scale 3D printed house in the United States that is fully built on-site by industrial robotic arms with minimal labor involved. RIC Technology’s cutting edge robotic arm based 3D printing system builds the entire house on-site in a highly automated process, as a result, freeing up human labor from dangerous and laborious work. 

Conventional gantry-based 3D construction systems can cost thousands of dollars in labor and equipment rental fees and take up to 3 days to set up. The reason is that gantry-based 3D printers rely on a massive framework to support the printer head during the printing process.

Consequently, transporting the gigantic gantry system to a construction site typically requires disassembly and the use of three semi-trucks, a large-scale crane, and a telehandler. 

In contrast, RIC Technology’s robotic arm system requires no assembly and can be operational in 2-4 hours. With its retractable design and compact size, the system can simply be transported to the site on a trailer towed by a pickup truck, drive off the trailer, and start to work itself without assembly, significantly reducing labor and transportation costs. 

In summary, RIC’s system cuts construction costs in three key areas: transportation, setup, and daily operations, including equipment rental and labor. 

“Compared to gantry-based 3D printing, our robotic arms can reduce costs by about $16,000 per home,” said Ziyou Xu, founder of RIC Technology. “Robotic arm-based 3D printing is one of the most promising solutions to address the global housing shortage crisis.” 

Furthermore, 3D-printed houses promise substantial energy savings, reducing the residents’ energy bill by 30% due to the houses’ insulation properties. 3D-printed homes are also extremely strong to withstand natural disasters and extreme weather, such as snowstorms that burden the winter of Iowa. 

“Essentially we can build more affordable, resilient, and durable houses with fewer resources and lower cost,” said Xu. 

That is why the City of Muscatine, in collaboration with The Community Foundation and Alquist 3D, plans to construct 10 homes using RIC’s groundbreaking system, with the third home already under construction. 

With its technology already reaching as far as Australia and Rwanda, RIC Technology has a global footprint in using innovative technology to revolutionize the 3D printing industry. Muscatine represents just one chapter in RIC Technology’s commitment to reinventing the global housing market through cost-effective, time-saving, and labor-reducing solutions. For additional information on RIC Technology and its impact on the 3D construction printing industry, please visit www.rictechnology.com. For more hi-res photos of this project please visit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-sZCKsqQ-VLXzsjG-vgnGhWGG1ixpP7t?usp=sharing