Charlotte is a spider-inspired construction robot developed by Australian startups Crest Robotics and Earth Built Technology. It is designed to revolutionize building by using local raw materials instead of traditional cement. The robot can 3D print an entire 2,150-square-foot house in just 24 hours. With its bio-inspired legs, Charlotte... can move autonomously, adjust its height during construction, and operate without the need for scaffolding. Although still in the prototype stage, Charlotte represents a major step toward sustainable housing solutions on Earth and future construction possibilities on the Moon.show more

Australians just based the design on something they see dozens of times every day.

Australian here, this is completely true, we do in fact have giant 6 legged spiders that poop out stuff that turns as hard as stone. They tend to feed on the remains of dropbear victims, which are mostly bones so their poop has a lot of calcium in it. To see that they have finally trained one and put it to work is fantastic news.

Et: "🕶️🤓😳👓🤔📚🍻

@Bl3D_Eccentric That is great that it can build the outside walls. Can it also create the inside structures needed to keep it pressurized? We don’t need moon garages or sheds to keep those raging lunar storms from ravaging our cyber trucks.

Finally a spider I actually want crawling around. Charlotte's spider-inspired design nails autonomous construction without scaffolding letting it print a full house in 24 hours from local materials alone. This is huge for slashing cement use on Earth and enabling lunar habitats without shipping supplies.

show me video of roof printing....

only an save world.

Charlotte is a 3d animation that doesn't exist

check this out

We can see these working on the moon. From earth we will see spiders instead of the cow jumping over it.

Can add potatoes to the mix for better cohesion

@elonmusk

am scared of spiders.

#straya

America-first innovation is back. Breakthrough tech like Charlotte shows what happens when leadership prioritizes strength, speed, and self-reliance. Build faster, smarter, stronger—on Earth and beyond. This is the future: bold, competitive, unstoppable. 🇺🇸🚀

Unfortunately, it's just a go-kart sized machine that barely moves. It has not built anything, does not even have any gear that would allow that. It's an animatronic spider with WAY too many moving parts for an unmanned lunar mission. Sadly, i think this one is a no go.

Wait we're getting actual spider construction robots for Moon bases? This is the most KSP thing I've seen IRL.

✌️🇹🇭

For Space mission that could accelerate construction a lot. Also the possibility of pre-made structures that assembly by itself (robotics)

Cool 😎

Lets break with tradition on the moon and go for -z (down) construction/tunneling instead.

Impressive tech. But scaling isn’t about speed, it’s about trust, regulation, and adoption. Who’s the first user? And how is this system actually controlled? The product layer amd interface layer matters as much as the engineering.

a spider has its spinnerets on its rear end keep the inlet top centered, but it discharges on a short boom for side and overhead printing and rotary disks to smooth the sides would be an improvement

This gives me CalEarth vibes.. Super Adobe or Earthbag Construction, designed initially in response to a NASA call for establishing human settlements on the Moon and Mars.

@elonmusk Australia startup

Cool but the last line isn't true. There are plenty of ways to build "sustainably and affordably" but a) the government doesn't allow it b) social culture/markets don't allow it. We have had modular and mobile housing for many decades. People choose the 10x more expensive thing