A bricklaying machine developed by an Australian robotics company has built its first complete house in under three days.
- The machine that could spell the end for bricklayers
- Video | Wienerberger develops bricklaying robot
Fastbrick Robots (FBR), which has developed the Hadrian X bricklaying robot, built a 180m2, three-bedroom, two-bathroom house.
A structural engineering consultancy group reportedly verified that the building met the relevant Australian building standards.
The firm’s chief executive Mike Pivac said: “We are excited by the performance and results, given this work was completed in test speed and for the very first time."
"We now have the world’s only fully automated, end-to-end bricklaying solution, with a massive market waiting for it."
The company now plans to make some refinements to the machine ahead of demonstrating it to potential customers.
The Hadrian X can work day and night, laying up to 1,000 bricks an hour – the equivalent output what two human bricklayers can manage in a day.
It resembles a regular truck, with a 30m telescopic arm mounted on the back that places bricks using a laser guidance system. It can be loaded with different brick sizes, or cut, grind and mill bricks inside the trainer to fit the structure before placement.
Last month, building materials giant Wienerberger announced that it was teaming up with FBR to run a pilot in Europe which will see the Hadrian X lay clay blocks specially manufactured by Wienerberger.
Comments
Comments are closed.
For a traditional wall cavity how would it deal with wall ties, insulation etc?
Network Rails is trialling similar technology with the university of Birmingham
Andrew,
There are 2 choices with what you say.
Firstly, you have a human doing the complex work with accessories (no one said the technology does away with people).
Or, you redesign so wall ties are no longer needed, and the insulation is elsewhere.
Anyway, the technology will have limits, like restricted access for the vehicle, and limits on complexity it can cope with (lintels, anyone?).
It wouldn’t do away with bricklaying as a skill, just compensate for the shortage of skilled tradesmen.