Automated construction has lots of promise: better quality, faster delivery and lower cost. But realising this potential is very slow. While many modern factories are full of robots, with barely a human to be seen, most offsite construction facilities are essentially site-based processes in a shed.

3D打印是一种利用CAD模型创建三维物体的自动化过程，它为建筑提供了很多帮助。它的灵活性与建筑定制的特性非常契合，该行业已经开始尝试生产一次性组件——甚至是整个建筑——的技术，但距离大规模采用该技术还有一段距离。

More about proof of concept than production

Change is coming, however. 3D printers for producing models have gone from an expensive rarity to an off-the-shelf product, with many architectural practices taking advantage of the speed, accuracy and low cost offered by 3D-printed models. Producing structural components is much more challenging due to their larger scale and the high temperatures needed to melt steel, so progress so far has been more about proof of concept than production.

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