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Smarter construction with robots The construction business is notoriously slow to adopt technology, but new start-ups and inventions have builders considering the advantages of automation By Selena Cotte, EA Managing Editor It is probably safe to say that construction is not synonymous with efficiency. While there have been grand improvements over the centuries, when compared with other sectors of the economy that involve difficult manual labor such as manufacturing, one does not consider the construction sector to be particularly high-tech. Cranes and similar vehicles are vital to many contemporary building projects, but it usually doesn’t get more automated than that. While it seems a bit behind the times, this is not the result of slow-to-adapt leaders, but rather a result of the difficulty of automating a hard-to-control construction site. Manufacturing plants, for instance, are controlled environments that allow for conditions to be anticipated and accommodated. Construction sites by their nature are temporary and ever-changing. No two building projects will be exactly alike, and even if they were, it would be difficult to implement the same kinds of systems that other industries have in
place and to constantly be moving. To automate construction requires an entirely different approach.
Finding a way to automate Some recent projects in San Francisco have found use in specially designed robots that are meant to aid in bringing construction to the 21st century, where Industry 4.0 is already in full effect elsewhere. The city’s latest airport terminal, an office building, and a building for the University of California San Francisco have all used robots to optimize building construction, making the process faster, smoother, and easier for human workers. Specifically, they used the Canvas bot, a robot specifically designed for the task of drywall finishing. Drywall can be difficult for people to finish due to its need to be smoothed out perfectly, to give the appearance of flatness, but it is not challenging to the robot. Further, even when construction workers have gotten the hang of the process, it’s both time-consuming and dull work—perhaps the kind that’s best taken on by a bot. Other construction tasks such as welding, drilling, and bricklaying are being automated by start-up Built Robotics to ease the burden on workers. Robots also exist for demolition purposes. Construction automation is only possible through innovative use of newly discovered sensor technology, open-source software, and advancements in robot technology such as grippers and arms.
Opportunities for service shops
— Canvas image
Robotics start-up Canvas is one of many new ventures into building robots for the construction sector. Previously, automation has been difficult, but bots like this one— which allows for drywall to be smoothed out without human intervention—are becoming more popular, allowing the industry to catch up with other fields that rely on hands-on labor, such as manufacturing.
Typically, construction and motor repair have little to do with one another, but the introduction of robots into any industry provides the opportunity for electromechanical maintenance and repair. The Canvas bots are not the large industrial robots typical in a large factory setting, but they are hefty pieces of machinery that may require specialized care and repair. If the trend were to continue, and other startups joined the race to make the construction business smart, more opportunities may appear for service shops to make an alliance. While this may be confined to select areas, such as San Francisco and similarly tech-focused cities, this is certainly a development to keep an eye on if robotic repairs are already in your wheelhouse. EA
8 ELECTRICAL APPARATUS | JANUARY 2021
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