3D printing for construction has been a major recent development. Many companies are beginning to test constructing building components with concrete and other materials. However, there are some current major limitations that PRIMO hopes to overcome. The first of these limitations is having a maximum print size, current concrete 3D printers currently behave the same as plastic 3d printers but are just much larger and print concrete instead. The other limitation is size, current industry mobile 3D printers are very large and require a lot of space to operate. PRIMO is a small mobile 3D printing robot, this allows it to have an unlimited print size and to print in small or difficult to reach places.
One of the aspects of this project that is continually being researched and improved upon is the type of material to be used. As with many commercial construction 3D printers PRIMO can print with cement, but it will also have the ability to print with multiple other materials to best fit the environment.
PRIMO used a SICK lidar for navigation and evaluation of the print layer. The pump mechanism was designed and created by the PRIMO team of undergraduate WPI students. The printing nozzles are the work of a WPI masters thesis project.