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ROBOTS’ PROMISES OF SAFETY AND PRODUCTIVITY
ABOUND, BUT ISSUES LIKE IMPACT ON JOBS, ADDED
COSTS, AND SPECIALIZED TRAINING HAVE KEPT MANY
CONTRACTORS ON THE SIDELINES.
When it comes to construction technology, contractors adopt
far slower than the rapid advances made.
Take a pre-marked jobsite. In the past, surveyors and expert
tradespeople would have to go on a jobsite and note
information, such as overall elevation, earth that needed to
be brought in or moved, and the layout of the buildsite. Today,
drones can capture that information, and robotics can deliver
the layout, saving time, energy, and money.
However, only 55% of construction companies across the U.S.,
Europe, and China say they use robotics, compared to 84% of
automotive companies and 79% of manufacturing companies,
according to a survey commissioned by ABB Robotics, an arm of
global tech company ABB.
Despite this slow rate of adoption, the construction industry
stands on the brink of a robot revolution.
“I think things are really starting to pick up in the context of
construction robotics,” said Venkat Krovi, a professor of vehicle
automation at Clemson University in South Carolina. “I think
overall, it’s really wonderful to see the industry interest in
doing some of this.”
Robot-powered jobsites are not an out-of-this-world fantasy,
far out of reach. Relying on tech-enabled machines to handle
most of the demanding, dirty, and dangerous work on jobsites
won’t take decades of research and advancement to achieve,
experts say. In fact, many predict that robots will proliferate
U.S. jobsites within the next 20 years, with many saying as
soon as ve.
What Makes a Robot
Robots are tech that perform two functions: sense the
environment and take in information, then use that information
to make a decision, said Chen Feng, an assistant professor at
New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering.
Rise of The Machines?
For Construction, Not Yet.
Written by: Matthew Thibault, Associate Editor, Construction Dive
Member Communication Experience
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Most of the robots working on jobsites today, include
task-checking aids like drones, autonomous excavators, or
exoskeletons that remove strain on humans lifting heavy
objects or materials, Feng said.
But fully autonomous robots — what Feng jokingly calls “the
Terminator stage” — are not close to becoming reality.
“There are a lot of things we think the robot can do. Robots are
not at this stage,” Feng said.
A Worthy Trade-O?
For wholesale adoption across the industry, price can exclude
smaller rms with smaller tech budgets, a fact even robotics
makers acknowledge.
For instance, Brian Ringley, the construction technology
manager at robotics company Boston Dynamics, said that any
change to construction workow creates “a little cost and
disruption” and that smaller contractors would wait for the
larger rms to move forward rst.
Boston Dynamics created “Spot,” a customizable quadruped
robot that specializes in capturing data by walking around a
jobsite. It doesn’t bark or bite, but it can fetch photos of your
jobsite and free up workers.
“For some of the newer mobile robots moving around on the
site, they’re going to wait until some of the bigger companies,
that have bigger projects with bigger margins and bigger R&D
groups, really improve and operationalize those technologies
before there’s mass adoption,” Ringley said.
Boston-based contractor Suffolk uses Spot on its
Massachusetts jobsites, where the 2-foot-tall robot is loaded
with a 360-degree camera before walking a jobsite, taking
photos, and eliminating the need for any human to do that
task. Boston Dynamics told Construction Dive that the base
Spot model starts at around $100,000.
“You can imagine Spot taking on that work and giving the
project and commuters more time to spend with more senior
level superintendents, project managers. And again, spending
more time problem solving instead of doing that data
collection,” said Kelsey Gauger, Suffolk’s director of operational
excellence.
Adoption hesitancy also stems from the construction industry’s
infamous aversion to change. In December, a report from
Dodge Construction Network detailed the hurdles that
contractors often run into when attempting to implement
a digital strategy, from hardware issues to a lack of a
transformation roadmap.
An Asset To The Modern Jobsite
Robots can offer increased safety to workers, according to Feng.
The robots could either help with, or entirely eliminate, the
burdens of hard labor on the body by helping workers as they
lift, such as through an exoskeleton, or through the robot doing
the lifting on its own.
San Francisco-based robotics rm Canvas has developed
a robot to do an arduous task: the mudding and sanding
processes of drywall nishing. Hanging drywall overall is an
incredibly demanding task, with the potential for back, arm,
and shoulder injuries. Canvas’ robot eliminates the need for a
human to nish this part of the construction process.
Salt Lake City-based Sarcos Robotics has developed its
Guardian XT unit, a robotic arm that an operator can control
remotely to do dangerous tasks. Contractors can lease the
unit at $5,000 per month according to an investor report.
For instance, the robot arm can trim large tree limbs while a
human remotely operates it.
Large contractors say they have beneted from leading the
eld in adoption.
DPR’s Henning Roedel, the robotics lead for the Redwood
City, California-based contractor, said the company has also
taken advantage of the boost in production robots bring. DPR
uses Dusty Robotics’ layout robot, and Roedel said that the
productivity has been a huge boon, performing the layout work
six times faster than without the robot.
If a product aids safety, it will attract DPR’s attention, but
productivity will drive the bottom line and scale usage for the
company, Roedel said.
San Francisco-based Swinerton has been putting the tech to
good use. Aaron Anderson, director of innovation for Swinerton,
said the builder had used Dusty’s layout robot and Canvas’
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drywall bot. Anderson said both solved industry-wide problems.
“We’re really motivated toward nding ways to improve
productivity to address a lot of the labor shortage issues,
improve quality, all of that. And robotics is emerging as a way
to achieve that,” Anderson said.
Out Of A Job?
As robots ll more roles in construction, industry watchers
wait to see if they will replace human workers on jobsites,
something that some labor activists say can lead to lower
wages and fewer jobs.
A 2020 study from MIT and Boston University professors found
that for every robot introduced per 1,000 workers in the U.S.,
wages decline by 0.42% and the employment-to-population
ratio drops by 0.2%. The research claims that this has led to the
loss of 400,000 jobs to date.
But, at least one union leader has prepared for robotic partners
on jobsites.
“We embrace evolutions in the construction industry, we don’t
ght them. And it’s a very simple reason — we want to be not
just ready for it, we want to be hopefully part of it,” said Jay
Bradshaw, the executive ofcer of the NorCal Carpenters Union.
Bradshaw represents 38,000 tradespeople across 22 unions in
Northern California.
“Since time immemorial, there’s historical examples you could
nd easily enough of folks that have tried to stop evolution of
technology in any industry,” Bradshaw said. “And it never works
out well for those organizations.”
Bradshaw said that robotics training occurs in the union’s
Northern California Carpenters training programs, at places
such as the Carpenters International Training Center in Las
Vegas. The training continues with their apprentice and
journey-level tradespeople, but Bradshaw acknowledged that it
hasn’t taken off quite yet.
However, some academics are dubious about whether the
future of employment and robotics can even be predicted.
“I think the [labor] situation is complex, no one can say for
sure,” said Juan De la Fuente, a visiting assistant professor at
Chester, Pennsylvania-based Widener University.
He pointed to countries such as Germany and Japan, whose
economies feature robots and people working alongside
each other on the job. The countries rank No. 3 and No.
4, respectively, on the list of the world’s most automated
countries, according to the International Federation of
Robotics. The U.S. is No. 9 on the list.
Where Are We Now?
The age of robotic advancement draws closer, experts agree,
but timelines for when contractors can expect to see mass
adoption vary. Most experts believe robots will become
commonplace sooner rather than later. Others, however, make
more conservative estimates.
“I think [5-10 years] is very optimistic,” said De la Fuente.
“It’s just not about creating the technology. It’s about making
everyone else feel okay with the technology being in the
workplace.”
De la Fuente said he expected the industry’s current, slow
movement on robotics would pick up soon, and predicted
widespread adoption within the next 20 years.
For Bradshaw and his workers, being there and being a part
of the robot-assisted future is the ultimate goal. He brought
up the invention of the automobile, and how even if buggy
makers got angry and wrote to Congress, that wouldn’t change
anything.
“The automobile was coming, no matter what,” Bradshaw said.
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About the Author
Matt Thibault is an Associate Editor at Construction Dive. Prior to this, he
was a freelance journalist covering esports, most notably the LCS, North
America’s professional League of Legends circuit. Matt has a master’s degree in
journalism and public affairs from American University and a Bachelor’s degree
in English and psychology from St. Lawrence University. He can be reached at
About the Article
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