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Bricklaying Robots and Exoskeletons Are the Future of the Construction Industry (vice.com)
David Silverberg reports via Motherboard: One of the most staid and digitally conservative industries is on the verge of a robotic makeover. The global construction space isn't known for ushering new tech into their workforce, but a painful labour shortage, calls for increased worker safety and more low-cost housing, and the need to catch up to other tech-savvy sectors is giving upstarts in robotics and exoskeletons their big moment. The construction industry isn't immune to this phenomenon, but robots and humans may increasingly work hand-in-hand in industrial sectors, according to Brian Turmail, senior executive director of public affairs at the Associated General Contractors of America. This is especially true when the construction industry en masse uses exoskeleton vests, which aim to assist workers with heavy loads and thus reduce their risk of injury.
The Hadrian X is a bricklaying robot courtesy Australia's Fastbrick Robotics, which uses its 30-meter metal arm to lay bricks at a rate of 1,000 bricks per hour, compared to a human worker's average of 1,000 a day. Due for release in late 2017, Hadrian X can read a 3D CAD model of the house and then it follows those instructions precisely, working day and night. New York-based Construction Robotics has also developed its take on a bricklaying robot. SAM can lay 3,000 bricks a day, and the company said it's about time this industry got a whiff of the change almost every other market has been seeing.
The Hadrian X is a bricklaying robot courtesy Australia's Fastbrick Robotics, which uses its 30-meter metal arm to lay bricks at a rate of 1,000 bricks per hour, compared to a human worker's average of 1,000 a day. Due for release in late 2017, Hadrian X can read a 3D CAD model of the house and then it follows those instructions precisely, working day and night. New York-based Construction Robotics has also developed its take on a bricklaying robot. SAM can lay 3,000 bricks a day, and the company said it's about time this industry got a whiff of the change almost every other market has been seeing.
"Been hurt at work? Did you exoskeleton suddenly fail when you were lifting 200kg of blocks above your head 5 floors up? Now paralysed and being fed via a tube? Give Constructive Legal a call on ....."
etc.
Actually, there is a surplus of workers who believe their labour is worth more than it really is. That's the real problem and it is being rectified.
Actually, there is a surplus of workers who believe their labour is worth more than it really is. That's the real problem and it is being rectified.
Quit picking on the CEO's.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I watched the clip about them on TV. Their claim was that the robot could 3000 a day, but a human could only do 1000. THEN they said that the robot needed 2 people to follow it and clean things up. So, 1 robot at 3000 plus two guys at 0 = 3 workers at 3000 = not a damn bit faster than current speed. Yes, they got a robot to do a new task, but it's not any faster than current.
Pay a proper wage and this "labor shortage" will disappear immediately.
And how much would you have to charge for a new starter home? Would that price be beyond the budget of most first time aspiring homebuyers?
The definition of a "proper wage" has always been competition between how much buyers are willing to pay for the final product and how much suppliers are willing to sell their goods/labor. You can't just point at one side and way "raise the wage" without explaining why buyers are going to pay more and what impact that will have on them. At least for me, keeping the barriers to homeownership low seems like a very worthy social goal, one that needs to be balanced against all the other worthy goals we have.
I think you have to ask "why brick at all?" Anything you do with brick you can do with concrete. Architects love concrete for its possibilities, but normal humans prefer the traditional look of brick.
And while you're talking about 3D printing, concrete as a 3D printing medium is coming along nicely, and is in the very early adopter stage where people who use it do so because it creates things that look different. But early adopters, while crucial in the tech adoption curve, aren't where you make money. You make money selling to the masses, and the masses are conservative.
Take concrete block construction; this does exactly what you suggest, make the construction cheaper and faster by using larger units. I live in a block house, and it would not be a whit better if it were made from bricks instead, but it'd be worth a lot more because people know concrete block construction is cheaper than brick.
So the advantage of a robot that lays conventional-looking bricks isn't functional. It's economic. Brick-laying robots create structures that have greater value than ones made by block-laying or concrete extruding robots.
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