Ever hear about the one-armed robot bricklayer? It sounds like the start of a bad joke doesn’t it? And perhaps for some incumbents in the building sector - particular bricklayers - it is. However it is a reality. Australian firm Fast Brick Robotics has recently passed a major milestone, completing a brick laying part of a house build in just 2.5 days. With pilots commencing in Australia and the US you might soon be seeing robot builders at a construction site near you.
Meet your robot builder
An overnight success 12 years in the marking, Fastbrick Robotics (FBR) have developed new technology to automate the laying of bricks to build structures - both commercial and domestic.
HadrianX is a truck-mounted one-arm robot that can accurately and quickly lay bricks for almost any kind of standard structure. HadrianX can work 24/7 and is only limited by the need for pallets of bricks to be loaded.
So just how does it work, and why does this matter?
Hadrian X ingests pallets of bricks and then lays them in quick succession with its extensible ‘arm’. Using standard 3D CAD models, it can build walls, leave gaps and spaces for doors and windows, and will be able to complete a standard house build in a day, according to FBR.
In the building game, speed and quality matter. Today, good brick layers are known and paid for three key things:
speed, the faster the better, with ‘good’ bricklayers averaging around 600 bricks per shift
stamina - being able to work consistently in sometimes tough conditions to meet that average
accuracy - laying the bricks well according to the design spec and with enough mortar for a quality finish
How does our robot friend stack up?
According to the current specs, Hadrian X will be able to lay 1,000 bricks per hour (8,000 in an equivalent shift) - that’s almost 15 times faster than the sunburnt bloke with the blaring radio!
Hadrian X can run all day, every day
It uses laser positioning combined with a technology FBR developed called Dynamic Stabilisation Technology (DST) that effectively stops the bricks from wobbeling and falling over. A further benefit is an estimated 10% reduction in material wastage due to fewer breakages and more accurate quantity ordering.
No-one takes a sickie if the robot drops a brick on its foot
In terms of sheer productive output Hadrian X is a clear winner. There are also safety benefits (no-one takes a sickie if the robot drops a brick on its foot), and longer working lives for operators. From a customer strategy perspective, there are two broad areas of consideration in play:
Emotional cut-through - that is, how can capability like Hadrian X be used to differentiate what is otherwise a highly commoditised service? Here I’m thinking about whether there is a ‘sexiness’ or ‘coolness’ to having your home built by a robot that might sway you in terms of builder?
Repricing - once Hadrian X is being produced at scale you should see a steep fall in the brick part of building a house come down. Meaning that those builders who have access to Hadrian X like capability will have a price advantage, and possibly a better margin outcome.
Fastbrick Robotics Corporate Presentation July 2020, page 9.
Wall As A Service
In addition to being much faster and cheaper to build walls FRB are developing an ecosystem to further challenge the incumbent building industry. Called WaaS - or Wall as a Service - the company’s strategy is to create WaaS operating companies around the world to erect walls on demand. These companies will use FBR’s technology combined with local materials sourcing to change how building designers and builders approach constructing large scale housing and later large scale commercial buildings.
Hadrian X and the WaaS model are clearly game changing for the commercial building sector:
It will cause changes in the labour - value exchange relationship as brickies are replaced - or in the short term augmented by - robots
Those who adopt robotics early in the game may develop an unbeatable cost advantage
WaaS ecosystems might reshape the way materials, specialists and associated trades are purchased and managed throughout the construction process.
Automation like Fastbrick is just one of many emerging technologies that are likely to fundamentally reshape the construction and building industry. There are clear threats to incumbent labour forces, and varying threats to builders and the suppliers of building materials. We will watch with interest as this space develops at pace, and can’t wait to see a robot bricklayer in action.
Cyrus Allen is a Founding Partner at CapFeather Global with more than 2o years of corporate experience locally and internationally with Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, Telstra and ANZ, together with nearly 8 years senior consulting and advisory Customer Strategy and Customer Experience Innovation. He has held three non-executive board directorships and has been involved in start ups in the aged care and delivery technology sectors.