Top Three: Aerial robotics

Robotics is slowly, but steadily entering the planning and construction industry. Robots are not yet building homes on a massive scale, but they are not that far away either. The first 3D printed house was completed in China in 2016 and since then are many teams rushing in automation of construction. I guess we are 5-10 years away from that happening on a massive scale.

The biggest challenge they face  is the uniqueness of each individual building. Many parts have to be custom made and they are not transferrable from project to project. Most of the parts are also massive, complex and heavy. The second challenge is the quality assurance, especially in regard to construction safety, but also in regard to sealing quality, leakages, and similar issues. The third challenge is the harsh outside environment of the regular construction site.

Based on what we know right now, the construction site of the future will be a three tier system:

• Drones above the site: they will patrol from the air and supervise the project development, but they could lso steer and coordinate ground vehicles. They have a perfect overview over the site. They could even lift or assemble light or very complex objects.
• 3D printers: they can print prefabricated elements off-site or on-site. This include everything from wall sections, facades, to printing entire walls. Most probably the focus will be on concrete structures. For now metal 3D printing is not yet developed enough.
• General assembly machines. Those are either automated classical machines, such as bulldozers, to very specific and never-seen-before robots. They would either assist ground crews or completely replace them.

I will present some of the most exciting companies for each category, starting with the drones, followed by 3D printers and end with the general assembly machines.

Drones

The researchers at the ETH Zürich have already constructed the first object using only drones video. But this is still far away of being a reality on the construction sites. What is now commercially available are the site surveillance drones. Let's look at some of the most exciting:

1. Skycatch

Skycatch. This american company is most probably the market leader in the field of construction survey drones right now. They are based in San Francisco, but already operate worldwide. They offer image capturing, immediate 3D modelling and data analytics. This way it is possible not only to film the construction site, but immediately analyse it for whatever parameter you want. They can generate 3D models, measure changes on the construction site, and of course film the progress.

2. PIX4D

PIX4D. There is no much difference between Skycatch and the PIX4D. This Swiss-based company is putting even more focus on 3D maps generation. They are specialists in creating 3D models out of captured data from the drones. The level of details is unmatchable. The 4D in their name implies the time dimension, overlooking a project over a longer period of time.

3. Mothership

Mothership. I am a firm believer that there is a future for blimps. They are very stable, they can stay in mid-air for a longer period of time, and consume very little energy. In fact, it is possible to pack solar cells of the outer shell. Perfect for construction sites. In the future they could even substitute lifting cranes. Mothership is a very young team building the general purpose blimp. I am excited to follow their progress.