“How can we make this easier?” is a common question often asked by the construction industry. With technologies that have automated cooking, driving, and tunnel inspection, it would seem that the answer to many of life’s questions is in semi or full automation. In regards to the construction industry specifically, automation doesn’t just mean less difficulty, either, it means less time, money, and manpower wasted on a single task, which makes automation one of the few great technologies sweeping the industry.
And while there are many great examples of construction automation, the arduous and often time-consuming endeavor of bricklaying and paving is one of the most recent aspects of the industry to undergo an automation facelift. Enter two companies both dedicated to realizing full automation in the construction industry, Construction Robotics and Vanku VB, and what we have on our hands is a full automation renovation.
Construction Robotics
Construction Robotics’ mission statement and main priority is to “advance the construction industry to include robotic automation and other advanced technologies,” in pursuit of what they believe will make construction easier, safer, and more lucrative. Their efforts yielded SAM, a semi-automated robot that lays bricks. SAM, which is an acronym for Semi-Automated Masonry, literally takes the place of a manual bricklayer.
As a semi-automated technology, SAM works with the mason and eliminates the repetitive and demanding nature of lifting bricks, laying mortar, and applying them together to create the bricklaying process. The manual mason remains in control of SAM at all times and decides when SAM starts and stops a function, but the physical job of bricklaying becomes SAM’s responsibility, allowing the manual bricklayer to act as more of an overseer than a laborer.
Construction Robotics ideally envisions increased efficiency thanks to the rate at which SAM can work and improved quality thanks to the precision of a robot and the craftsmanship of the human eye. Some of the benefits SAM boasts are:
- Job savings of greater than 30%
- Consistent production rate and performance
- Increased quality of tooling joints and wall quality
Vanku VB
Dutch company Vanku VB’s own interpretation of semi-automated technology is known as Tiger-Stone, a monster of a machine that semi-automates the brick paving process. A vertical brick and paver laying machine, the Tiger-Stone takes increased efficiency on the jobsite to a whole new level by repaving entire streets at once.
Similar to the way you would lay a sheet of fondant on a cake, the Tiger-Stone quite literally lays entire sheets of pre-paved brick flooring onto the ground, and the visual itself is enough to make you want to know more about the product.
And Tiger-Stone is easy enough to operate, requiring a minimally impressive two person team to work. Users have the ability to first dictate width options of 13 inches, 16 inches, or 20 inches, and then choose a specific design for the final product. Once measurements and aesthetics are decided, all that is left to do is to feed the machine with bricks and watch it as it lays out perfectly precise, prefabricated brick paved flooring.
According to Tiger-Stone, a two person crew can lay at least 3,230 square feet of pavers per day. The estimated conventional method of brick paving, as reported by Construction Junkie, only produces 800 to 1,075 square feet per day. At worst, that’s a 2,155 square foot increase, at best, that’s a 2,430 square foot increase. In either situation, it’s increased productivity.
The Takeaway
Automation in construction is big right now, and chances are, it will only continue to gain popularity with what advantages it brings to the industry. From semi-automation to full-automation, automating processes that typically take more manpower and time to complete is a huge onsight money-saver most companies will want to look into.
The biggest takeaways of automation in the construction industry are these:
- Less Time Spent on a Project
- Increased Profit/Money Saving
- Less Manual Labor Needed
- Increased Worker Safety & Security
- Better Production Performance & Quality
The rise of the machines is here, and they’re looking to automate the industry one brick at a time.
Leave a Reply