A company based in New York, Construction Robotics, has designed a robot that can lay rows of bricks at high speed. The objective of this robot is not to replace a human builder, but to raise his productivity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Or7A5w4ZE
As you can see in the video, the robot is in charge of rote tasks, such as picking up bricks, applying mortar, and placing them where they should be. The human builder is responsible for setting up the worksite, laying bricks in tricky areas or cleaning up excess mortar. The robot is also able to adapt to differences that are always found between reality and plans.
According to Scott Peters, cofounder of Construction Robotics, while a human builder can lay between 300 and 500 bricks a day, this robot can lay between 800 and 1,200 a day. A human with this robot equals the productivity of three builders or more.
This device should make us think about the role of technology in construction. While in the Facilities Management sector, in general, we add more and more technology every day, the construction section seems to remain as an artisanal trade. News like these insinuate that characteristic like these won’t remain for many more years.
Photo by: Construction Robotics http://www.construction-robotics.com/
