For a long time, the idea of using any sort of robotic machine – particularly one that is at least partially autonomous and complete tasks with little-to-no human intervention – for work on a construction site was entirely theoretical. People recognized the value such a workflow would provide, but actually getting to that point was not within the realm of possibility. Now, we’re past that point. No, we don’t have upright robots completing tasks in all aspects of life, a la The Jetsons, but both ground- and aerial-based robots are becoming more commonplace, and the current AI boom is also helping to push more autonomous capabilities to the forefront.
At Geo Week News, we’ve taken particular interest in robotic systems that can be used for reality capture and inspections on a number of different job site types. Below, you can find five recent stories from our archives showing the growth in this space.
Are AI and Robotics Starting to Revolutionize the Construction Industry?
We start off with a recent article based on a panel discussion that took place at this year’s ENR FutureTech conference held this summer. The session focused on the growing place of artificial intelligence and, by extension, robotics in the construction industry. A panel discussion with a trio of industry experts, the conversation touched on a number of topics but the emergence of robotics was a major theme, in part thanks to the presence of Tessa Lau, the CEO and founder of Dusty Robotics.
Automation on Construction Sites: Completing layout surveys with uncrewed ground vehicles
Next, we go back a couple of years to a conversation Geo Week News had with the founder of another construction robotics company, Civ Robotics. In this article, CEO and co-founder Tom Yeshurun spoke about his company’s autonomous robots, which are used for layout workflows for outdoor sites like solar fields. These autonomous ground rovers are able to take a list of coordinates, and when the user chooses the first point the rover will take it from there and complete the layout project.
Experts Discuss Value Provided by Portable 3D Mapping Solutions
For this article, we look at a webinar that was hosted on Geo Week News earlier this year featuring speakers from Exyn Technologies and Trimble. The former is a company that specializes in autonomous robotics, although they are largely (though not exclusively) focused on UAVs rather than ground-based robots. Their conversation touches on where things are today with portable 3D mapping, discussing both manual and autonomous mapping projects in the AEC industry.
Trimble and Exyn Technologies to collaborate on proof of concept for fully autonomous robotic solution
As part of the conversation on the webinar mentioned above, the two mention a project featuring both companies involved. That is the focus of this article, looking at a collaboration from late in 2022. For this, Exyn and Trimble came together to work on a proof-of-concept for an integration between the former’s autonomous mapping capabilities, the latter’s laser scanning technology, and Boston Dynamics’ Spot the Dog. The idea for this integration is for a Spot the Dog robot to be able to autonomously navigate a construction site and collect reality capture data with little-to-no human intervention, something that is becoming a reality in the time since.
Autonomous drones are inspecting and mapping infrastructure in Spain
Finally, we have an article highlighting the work being done by Hovering Solutions, a Spain-based company who makes autonomous UAVs for inspection. While not necessarily working on construction sites per se, this kind of autonomous flying could unlock new workflows for specific projects and is currently being used in other AEC-related projects in Europe. Autonomy still has a bit of a ways to go to work in some of the more complex environments seen in construction, but we are rapidly approaching the ability to use these UAVs and other robots for those workflows.
