Bricklaying Robot Technology
Bricklaying is one of the technologies that has defined the construction industry for many years. In today's modern era, this technology has even become one of the most commonly used technology in construction. Example of robotic bricklaying technologies such as MULE or SAM (SemiAutomated Mason) developed by American Construction Robotics company. MULE is a semi-automatic work system that helps masons lift stones, while SAM is an automatic bricklaying technology developed for the installation of monotonous bricks, such as long straight walls.
Tools that are used in the making of this bricklaying robot are:
● Self-aware In Situ Fabricator mobile robot predecessor & dimRob mobile platform;
● Hydraulic system powered by diesel engine & was steered using hydraulic levers, the tracks can still be controlled manually, but are pre-dominantly operated in automatic mode where the tracks are steered precisely using an on-board control system,
● Robot arm was powered and controlled by control box not integrated to the robotic system,
● The system is electrically powered by lithium-ion batteries,
● To pick and place the bricks, the robot equipped with a vacuum gripper and a brick feeder on its back,
● The high-level planning of fabrication tasks, such as the sequencing of the robot's positions, brick laying procedures, and computing the arm and gripper commands.
The way it works is just as fascinating as it looks. First, set the tool trails in the construction site. Second, connect the 3D CAD design from Rhino app to Grasshopper visual programming language, then put the robot on top of the trails, the app will detect the tools as soon as it is placed on the starting trail.
So it is clear that with robot technology like this, the world of building construction will be much more efficient, because it does not require a lot of human labor and can speed up construction time. Therefore, this technology must be developed so that it can help every building construction work around the world.
source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300412089_Mobile_Robotic_Brickwork
Written by Maria A.L. & Saniya