Founder, Gayle Parsons, sums up the Summer Print week by week.
WEEK 1
It’s been SO exciting to finally get the robot on-site!! And to use it for the first time, after years of planing and months of lab-based materials testing at Cardiff University.
Megan and I took delivery of the robot on 28th July, the first morning of the 10 week Summer Print, and Best Little Building Company were on hand to bolt it down to the specially constructed slab base, strong enough to take the weight and forces of the large-scale robot.
Global Robots had refurbished the 10 year old ABB robot for us and custom painted it a vivid blue, and Kev from Phoenix Control Systems was with us for the week calibrating the robot and integrating the pump that we’d ordered – an IMER Mighty small 50 PLUS.
The first few days were a steep learning curve in how to control the robot and its 6 axes, and our first prints were joyous – despite having made the earth mix so sloppy that the cube that we printed looked more like a pyramid as it’s lower layers slumped.
We soon realised that the custom-made nozzle did not fit onto the end of the hose from the pump, but Pump Parts came to the rescue and Paul and his son Adam fabricated a new one for us overnight and delivered it in person to site – what a service!
And out of adversity came fortune. Adam is now a valued core team member who brings a wealth of both mechanical and robotic expertise as well as enthusiasm and a willingness to just get on with whatever needs doing.
