The HINDCON project started on September 15th, 2016 and the Kick-Off was launched in Brussels on October 20th, 2016. The HINDCON project has finished as planned on September 14th, 2019 and the main objectives presented on the initial proposal have been successfully achieved.
During the first months the project, the Consortium discussed all the specifications required from each technology and the several synergies and interaction to be considered between them were assessed, in order to define de 3D printing solution. The first reporting period ended with some delays, as detailed on the periodic report. As a result of these delays and deviations, a first amendment to the Grant Agreement was requested and finally approved on May 2018. This amendment also included the substitution of former partner n. 6 ESTIA-CCI BAYONNE by current partner n.14 ESTIA and the substitution of former partner n. 8 Stiftelsen SINTEF by current partner n.13 SINTEF. It also included the transfer of WP7’s leadership from VIAS to ESTIA and other smaller changes and budgetary adjustments (details available in amendment n. AMD-723611-23).
During the second reporting period, the technical work has continued mostly as planned. However, an important change needed to be made, as a result of a sudden strategical decision of VIAS, beyond the scope of the project. This decision consisted in closing and putting on sale their Fuenlabrada facilities, the initial location for the HINDCON prototype. Hence, it was necessary to make a change of location with all the associated deviations that it encompassed. To cope with this, a second amendment to the Grant Agreement was requested and finally approved on September 2019. The main subject of this amendment was the new location for the prototype in a new Machinery Workshop acquired by VIAS, located in Pancorbo (Burgos, Spain). These facilities complied with all the requirements for the prototype and the test. However, this led to an initial delay and several technical and economic deviations that were corrected and re-scheduled through a second amendment to the Grant Agreement.
Final technical delays and deviations held can be consulted in section 5.1 of the second periodic report part B. Economic deviations held are thoroughly explained in section 7 of the second periodic report part B. However, due to the effort of the HINDCON partners, all the delays were minimised and the project ended successfully on time on September 2019. The milestones of the project have been accomplished, with the exception of milestone MS8 (Joint Venture definition) which has been partially achieved. This is shown and explained one by one in section 3 of the second periodic report part A.
Regarding the achievement of the project objectives, the specific objectives of the project have also been achieved, as it is shown and explained one by one in section 1.1 of the second periodic report part B.
As a conclusion, despite the initial delays and the need of several re-adjustments, the HINDCON project has been a great success and the “all-in-one” hybrid machine for concrete 3D printing has been prototyped and tested, showing very good results. The technology has reached TRL6, demonstrating its excellent potential for the industrialization of the Construction Industry, while reducing time, necessary materials, and consequently costs and environmental impacts.
