Drone swarms that can print emergency shelters for survivors of natural disasters are just around the corner, says Mirko Kovac in an interview.

Colin Smith visited Imperial College London’s flight arena, buried deep in the bowels of the Department of Aeronautics, to speak to Dr Kovac. In between carrying out tests on a prototype aerial robot for repairing oil pipelines, Dr Kovac spoke about his research and the future benefits aerial robotics could bring in construction.

Dr Kovac and his team have received more than £3.4 million in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and industrial partners. His project will push forward the development of aerial construction-bots, equipped with 3D printing technology, which excrete materials that can be used to repair or build structures.

One potential application is in disaster relief, says Dr Kovac. These types of emergencies can throw up all types of physical obstacles such as landslides and floods, which prevents teams from reaching those in need in a timely way. Dr Kovac says the aerial drones he is developing could fly to a disaster zone, scan and model the landscape using Building Information Management (BIM) systems, design temporary shelters, and print them on the spot. This could give those in need a place to live until emergency services personnel can reach them.

This process, called Additive Building Manufacturing (ABM), is already being trialled in many parts of the world by the construction industry. It involves the use of large robots on a building site that extrude building materials to construct buildings, similar to a 3D printer. This process has the advantage of reducing construction times, material and transport costs and easing traffic and environmental impacts. 

David Fuller's view

This is by far the most exciting era of technological innovation, and the rate of achievement is accelerating.