Ice rink robot could one day 3D print roads

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Additive manufacturing capabilities have been coupled to a robot to create Addibot, a machine that could one day work in a team to carry out road repairs.

Our Video of the Week shows Addibot repairing grooves made by ice skaters on an ice rink by using water to 3D print ice. But the eponymously-named US company behind Addibot believes that autonomous and semi-autonomous versions could ultimately be used to repair and even construct road surfaces. 

Based in New York State’s Tech Valley, the company says: “The ability for an Addibot to move its printing implements to any desired location in space allows it to break free from the restrictions of the finite printing workspace.”

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