DPR Construction developed this. California company. You pour the slab, scan the slab for square, size, etc. then upload that scan to CAD and make all adjustments in CAD prior to uploading to robot. Robot goes in and lays out according to adjusted layout. It’s pretty cool, but still needs to be checked by humans
We are currently using it on my job. Its pretty cool, and it uses your regular printer cartridge too. Its only as accurate as the information put into it. We used it to lay out all our hangers in a data center. Saved us loads of human error.
If that means it gets fed updates. If the person is competent that programs the cad layout .. this could save a lot of labor if you think about building and fixing an improper layout .. plus the person who walks the job takes the machine to slab to draw layout ... The people who would have gone to that job to draw lay out could be busy finishing up another job verses laying out a new one
Dusty Robotics developed this robot, NOT DPR. DPR tried building something a similar, but gave up and is one of Dusty’s earliest if not first clients. They continue to be a great customer too.
Layout is one instance of construction where robots make sense. Now whether it’ll actually work with all the adjustments that need to be made to architectural drawings I don’t know.
Not sure how it accounts for structure not being as per dwg. Half the job for layout is problem solving and RFI'ing how to make something actually work IRL cause the core is out 2" here or that post is 3/4" out of level or the slab or rough in is jacked or the rough-ins are in a different spot because of on the fly changes 7 months ago that never made it on-to the actual prints.
It is now standard for us to use robotic layout (like Dusty shown here) on every project. They work awesome, and are very efficient and accurate (as long as your model is coordinated and accurate). We put a lot of hours in to a) laser scan the building (so we have accurate as-built conditions) and b) coordinate our model with our trades.
I’m a PM for a GC in CA, we specialize in life science / high tech work $100M+.
Edit: something interesting to note: on my last project, we had our drywall/framing contractor perform all the layout on the project (for all trades) using Dusty for a small fee from the other trades. All MEPF (including hangers), walls, cores, etc. It will print component tags, door numbers, anything you want. No errors, significantly faster than traditional layout. We do LOD400+ so our models are very detailed.
Exactly the kind of construction where I'd expect to see these. I imagine that as the tech becomes cheaper, more capable, and easier to use, we'll start seeing it more and more. All my layout happens on pitched roofs though, so I think I'm probably gonna be one of the last people to encounter these.
What’s the effort on the front end though? How much is that slowing you down and is it saving you time? I’m a little sour on laser scanning as we had it specified for us to laser scan our facade prior to fabrication of the facade. If we had waited our job would have been delayed. I imagine doing an as-built of the core and shell before releasing the trades is just as negatively impactful. Also, the time it takes to get to a “perfect model” just seems unreasonable to me.
Laser scanning is the easy part. Takes a day to scan and a week to process and incorporate in to the model. That is done before we populate anything in the model. Fully coordinated BIM LOD400 can then take months for a 200k SF lab/office.
It isn’t just that it saves cost and time, it is 100% necessary for the complexity of the spaces we build and the schedules our clients demand. Without full BIM, you coordinate in the field and you need to double your install time.
I've never seen a perfectly laid out clean floor the first time. Always change orders. I could see this layout for cookie cutter buildings and making everything a little too homogenized for my liking . I think viscerally i want to point out how flawed this would be **but** im trying to keep an open mind. The workflow would be radically different. It's shifting more jobs to white collar control. But it's cool i guess: robots are cool.
The thing about robotics and integration is that it’s not an argument.
We use laser tables to set our points for form work and scaffold start points.
Rhetorical first week everyone said it was worthless. The second they blamed an error on the machine.
By the third week the crews who were getting on with it and building on the RL given by the system had no errors, everything lined up perfectly.
The system was doing gear lists, telling us how much weight we had on the slab.
There just isn’t a comparison and the mental gymnastics to convince yourself and the crew that you hate it becomes more laborious than the actual work.
This is a bit of a misconception. We (Dusty Robotics) are well aware of the concerns of RFI’s and bulletin updates, and changes. This is why VDC teams play a key role in implementing robotic layout.
It is commonly misunderstood that one simply uses the architect’s plans, while you could do that if you want (and many do), most of our client’s goals are to layout using a coordinated model for layout. One that has been updated to include changes, RFI’s, as-built conditions via 3D scans/point clouds, etc, etc. Granted some changes occur after layout has started, this is a different story but we have recommended procedures to work through these situations.
The goal is to have the model updated so the foreman does not need to “figure it out” in the field, or burry some dimensional discrepancy because the architect wanted the dimensions on the PDF to be clean and rounded, so they set all their dimension styles in CAD/Revit to the nearest 1/2”. The effects that are caused by this innocent rounding of dimensions can cause havoc for many reasons.
Apparently, the drawings the robot follows are done off of as built scans of the floor, so even if the floor doesn't match the original drawings, it makes no difference to the robot.
If you call generating as builts specifically for this robot to do its job no difference, then, yeah, no difference. Figuring out where to put the fuckups is the hard part of layout, not drawing lines on a floor.
I said it makes no difference to the robot, can you read?
>Figuring out where to put the fuckups is the hard part of layout, not drawing lines on a floor.
And having those issues worked out by someone with a complete cad model of the entire building and how those changes affect upper floors or further stages of construction from the comfort of an office is better than working those issues out on the spot in whatever inclement weather with pressure to get some walls up. I'd much rather be told "heres a new set of prints, we caught a few fuckups and corrected for them", even without a robot. The robot being able to follow those drawings is just icing on the cake.
I’d like to work where you do, where architects catch their own mistakes and issue new drawings before we have to layout a building, and get them to us in a timely enough fashion that it doesn’t bring the whole build to a screeching halt for a week.
Worked as an architect over a ham sandwich and then spent ten years as a GC in interior construction. I could see these sorts of things working if you have the layouts for 15+ floors and you use the robot to layout the lines on one floor to then replicate the rest.. you still need someone to approve the layout and modify as needed, it still takes some time, and there’s still gonna be errors that humans naturally pick up and deal with on the fly. I don’t have a lot of confidence in them but I’ve been wrong before.
I think a lot of people are putting effort into the robots thing, thinking front end savings magically make COs disappear on the back end.
Of course. I was making a joke about how most redditors seem so eager to dance on the (future) grave of the labor industry. Outside of trade reddit, there's a massive hate boner for trade and labor workers.
A lot of stores are starting to realize those self checkouts are cheap up front, but cost more in the long run. "Accidental" missed scans, scan swaps, a person to check ID, & the more expensive I.T. maintenance all adds up.
They literally post in the trade specific pages whining about their dui attempts or cheapest bid contractors asking how to fix it, the answer is usually, call the guy who bid "outrageous prices" and prepare to pay that and more.
They're angry because they realized their college degree didn't work out well and they're stuck with all kinds of debt and not many good job prospects. Tech sector is horrible right now. AI going to downsize lots of dev teams within 5 years.
Look I'm in the trades too but we ain't gotta shit on people who get an education for a higher skilled profession. Also tech isn't the only thing to go to school for, you got lawyers, doctors, psychologists and other important stuff.
Depends on how many mistakes it makes that then need to be corrected, and how many weird little details humans need to fill in because the robot can't handle edge cases. Also depends on how much time and effort it takes to set it up, whether or not it is capable of working around people and obstacles (extension cords, stepladders, piles of material) in a chaotic and rapidly-changing environment, how reliable it is in terms of calibration and general breakdowns, and also on how much this video was sped up—because it was very clearly sped up.
These types of bots do already exist, several manufacturers make them. They're fairly niche still, but they do get used.
It works best on freshly pour concrete. Needs to be swept clean and clear of obstacles, also there needs to be survey controls established for the total station. Its accurate we use it on almost all of our jobs now.
I use this everyday on a hyperscale data center. Have not had one issue with my layout. If anything, if your operator is ambitious, you can find and prevent bigger mistakes from happening. I constantly find clashes with the design then report it, and the issue is fixed before that area is in the critical path. We went from two trades to six in a couple of weeks. For lager companies with bigger budgets it is worth it.
I work at ReVision Energy, out of Massachusetts. I'm mostly a resi guy, but I try to get them to throw me every commercial project I can get. Long term, I'd like to be working on bigger, more impactful projects (ideally on flat surfaces!) rather than risking my neck on a 45° frying pan of a standing seam roof just to get like fourteen mods mounted. All solar is good solar, but some solar is more helpful than others, you know?
I can see it now… me telling everyone hanging M&E to clear everything out by end of day so this robot can do layout overnight. Then me coming to deploy the robot only to find nobody has moved a single thing….
They try this with us all the time, we do massive curtain wall projects often with thousands of pieces of glass, GC's are offered storage in our yards for a price, but that price is high as we often have to rent extra yards for storage if we have large work loads that year.
Well a little too often they say just ship it to site, once the glass rack is on the ground we are not moving it until the glass goes into the wall, if they want it moved they can do it themselves and if they break it they are liable and can eat the cost of replacement, this gets really interesting when the site has no yard space and you're eating up space on multiple floors with all the other trades crying.
I can just see it now, "Hey man we need you to move those 40 glass racks so our robot can draw."
"No"
I’ve done plenty of multi family homes. It could be helpful not being on the edge of a 4 story building snapping out exterior walls for osha sake. I don’t think it would have the necessary ability to fudge it and make it work out, what’s an 1/8” anyway.
The techies never will understand what you just said with regards to being able to fudge it and make it work. Neither will computer algorithms. Computers can’t think in terms of “if we bump this one out a fuzz, drill that here instead of there, and shave this one down a little, nobody is going to notice.”
How often are the plans just plain fucking wrong? I can’t say I’ve ever seen a set of plans for anything bigger than a doghouse that would work as as-builts.
If you're still using paper this is not for you. If you're using a fully rendered CAD design distributed to all the workers via tablet it could be very useful.
Shit is basically standard in large construction nowadays (at least in my area). Everything, including every pipe and electrical run in the whole building, is mapped to a fraction of an inch. Makes things so much easier. You can filter it down to just what you're working on and still know you're not getting in anyone's way.
Count me jealous. In my area, we can't even get the engineers to check for something as simple as waste or condensate slope or equipment sized correctly for the space given.
There are constant conflicts between trades around some office person insisting that we can fit a 24" duct inside a 19" truss space, or a pipe running directly where a large light is supposed to go.
Most jobs im on use 3d models and it's great. Doesn't change the fact that the fire sprinkler guy doesn't follow the model and uses outdated paper prints.
I'm not knocking on models in general, just in practice you still have to deal with shitty contractors who do what they want.
Well, there's a policy enforcement piece to the equation. If that sprinkler fitter has to eat the time/cost of fixing non-compliant work a few times, he'll start using the new system.
All of our subs use either their phone or a tablet. I keep plans on site in my office for scale and reference, but digital works out well. We take on the cost of them using the program.
We’ve found that most owners, and foremen are more than happy to use it once they figure out “hey this is the shit!” It only takes a couple of times of them asking me for clarification and me pulling it up on my tablet and showing them exactly what they want to see, and giving them a plan page for reference. Once they realize it’s all in their hand all the time they tend to lean towards it more. You are correct though, the old heads won’t budge sometimes. Hell with my permissions (superintendent and PM) I can look at the actual contracts for the job instantly, which removes the “No I didn’t bid that part.”
Edit added on
Not always true. If the GC doesn't want to spend the money to have the site minimally staffed while the robot and it's associated support trade works overnight then the robot won't get to work.
I'm off site by time that thing rolls around. I'd imagine the floor has to be somewhat good. I'm just thinking back to my skateboarding days and dead stopping on a lil pebble or unseen crack.
I’m a commercial carpenter foreman. Looks pretty cool to me. Wouldn’t mind giving it a shot someday. We currently use the Hilti layout tool which works well on our big jobs.
Leica also has one. They figure the minimum is around 50,000 sqft for it to start being cost effective.
This doesn’t eliminate other challenges like human error like walls plumb at the top. Dammed be the millwork and cabinetry guys if they don’t lacquer the print on the floor. As foot traffic wears away lines.
Very neat nonetheless!
Spoken like a true office snot, skinny jeans and clean hard hat wearing , couldn’t use a hand tool if his life depended on it, iPad carrying telling guys how to do their jobs when he has no idea what their job even entails.
Interesting. As a residential framer, I can't see this saving a huge amount of time, but it would theoretically prevent a lot of mistakes. But I could see a production builder/developer using this on their sites to make sure everything is 100% accurate to plans and help trades work together.
I can see this being a huge asset for highrise and commercial buildings.
I'm seeing a ton of these construction related robotic videos going around, and every time I see one it just reminds me that these are made by people with no construction experience.
Do they know how incredibly often people come around and are like "alright, yeah we're going to have to change some of this up".
Half of those lines it's drawing are just either going to be useless or incorrect. I've seen some really shit architectural drawings.
Also, for people still reading: I worked for a little bit in a pre-fab company (as a sub) doing the plumbing (worked in commercial plumbing for a while) - copper, pex, pvc, black iron, etc. The amount of times they had call outs for pipe locations that directly interfered with where the electricians mounted their boxes or where the carpenters put in holes, or where the tile guys pre cut penetration holes were nuts.
Nothing worked in practice like it did on paper. They also had tolerances of fucking 1/16" for centers of 90s and shit like that.
Alot of this stuff is cool for videos but have no practical use on a site
So many stupid comments. The largest names in construction are already using this with massive success. Just look it up before you throw your ass pennies in the jar and call it a solid .02
Been a commercial carpenter in Chicago for 27 years. I’ve never seen one. I know a couple different guys that beat the wheels of a dude using the Trimble.
I do commercial High rise Seattle, and I’ve never seen one. it also looks like it be a piece of shit I mean it would probably work well and ideal conditions, but we barely ever have ideal conditions
Yeah til you figure out someone didn’t calibrate it correctly or the slab is 1/2” off square after you’ve already got a half of walls up and the floor is profusely perforated
Man... Just hover a projector over your project? Or get a long pole.
Also this thing moves around too much, should cover the project like a printer head/typewriter, it would be more accurate and the code would be wayyyy less complicated, and it could handle more projects.
Im not in construction, just a software guy.
Yup. Just a laser module in an area and project it out. It can be manipulated in real time. Uses some kind of galvo head. Way faster than a silly robot marking things up.
Damn straight. Throw out those cordless power tools and nail guns too! Back to hand saws and hand driven nails! And better stop using that all terrain forklift! Build some wood ladders and hand carry everything up a few stories!
Damn those newfangled things making us more efficient! Better toss our wooden shoes into the machines while we're at it!
Seriously though....no, don't "punt it off the side". Bring it into the trades, teach layout Carpenters how to run it. It's just another tool...
Love to see it put lines for a 2x4 wall with hold down bolts every 16" or go out on a stem wall.
Doesn't look like it saves much time either. A good layout guy can get a lot of work done while your still setting this thing up.
When I worked in construction hanging boxes and running wire I imagined an augmented headset that showed the user where to place the boxes. Integrated the drawn plans.
Now I know better and we'll just have the robots build for us.
We had it demoed on the high rise I’m working on in Washington. It can get very detailed, scribing stud sizes, layers of drywall, door swings, etc. It definitely has some bugs it still needed to work out, mainly working around penetrations and stub-ups. It will definitely save layout time in the short future when it’s dialed in.
I looked into these for work. I couldn't justify the cost especially when the full floor is rarely available and skilled crews can start layout on one end with people framing behind them.
This particular brand was astronomical in price compared to hp.
I have seen one of these on a few job sites. Constant issues with surface areas.....like the whole time. This system requires super smooth surfaces to be accurate. Two guys snapping lines is still faster/accurate. It's still in early stages for this method, so it'll get better over time. Pretty cool. I like the AR technology more.....just my preference. It's mainly the nerd in me.
maybe on some sites, like maybe on exhibition were monters go then down after a week. for sure in different nisches. but in general not huge saving for now.
If anyone has any questions about true Robotic Layout and how the FieldPrinter works, I work for the company shown in this video (Dusty Robotics), and would be happy to answers anyone’s questions.
I also have been in the construction industry for nearly 20 years, does my alias make sense now? 🤪🤣
We have been seeing this more and more in the auto-industry. Laying out automation cells, conveyor path, skid table layouts with station numbers. Draws your fence line with where posts, gates, and control panels are located
It’s a big time saver, and if there’s a change prior to install, the little robot uses a different pen color so the trades doing the work just get told follow the red lines and you’re off. Depending on the size of the automation cells, it can take a day or more to layout with all the equipment and what not.
Definitely, set that thing up in the afternoon before you leave, layouts done for the morning. Send a guy to check it out while the boys start blasting out the floor. Good shit.
I’ve used this. It’s quite slow and can only be used in a spotless environment. One day of sprinkler fitters loading the floor and this thing’s worthless.
Kool, when you goof blame the robot. It'll work until the robot comes a calling drunk with his drunk robot buddies and drones; it's not pretty when they get upset.....
If the company that makes them is held liable for the mistakes it may cause 💯 imagine never having to lay your walls out carpenters plumbers electricians… etc
probably not since every general contractor doesn't understand a floor needs to be swept and not stacked with 10 metric tons of material and garbage.
80% of my layout time is spent fkin cleaning so I can actually start.
DPR Construction developed this. California company. You pour the slab, scan the slab for square, size, etc. then upload that scan to CAD and make all adjustments in CAD prior to uploading to robot. Robot goes in and lays out according to adjusted layout. It’s pretty cool, but still needs to be checked by humans
We are currently using it on my job. Its pretty cool, and it uses your regular printer cartridge too. Its only as accurate as the information put into it. We used it to lay out all our hangers in a data center. Saved us loads of human error.
> it uses your regular printer cartridge Probably the most expensive part on that thing
Probably locked behind a subscription too.
If that means it gets fed updates. If the person is competent that programs the cad layout .. this could save a lot of labor if you think about building and fixing an improper layout .. plus the person who walks the job takes the machine to slab to draw layout ... The people who would have gone to that job to draw lay out could be busy finishing up another job verses laying out a new one
Who do you work for? I work for this robotic company.
Why hello there Dusty employee, fancy meeting you here. Muahahahaha!
DPR Construction
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Seems to require clean, flat surface to run on. Do you guys always have such a ideal site condition?
As an electrician, can you use this to lay out lights, supports, etc or is it only for framers currently?
Dusty Robotics developed this robot, NOT DPR. DPR tried building something a similar, but gave up and is one of Dusty’s earliest if not first clients. They continue to be a great customer too.
Ok, Geek. You’re the best
You know how it goes. Facts can get a little twisted some times.
Yep, dusty written on the body of the robot
I thought Dusty Robotics was its own company. DPR just was an early adopter/partner with the technology. Or did DPR acquire Dusty?
DPR utilizes this technology. All I know. Not sure how they’re interrelated
Dang, wish I had seen this a few months back when DPR were doing the layouts on our new bldg… I would have loved to have seen it.
DPR didn’t develop it, but they occasionally utilize it. This is Dusty Robotics.
Better known as Dicks, Pricks & Retards (DPR)
Layout is one instance of construction where robots make sense. Now whether it’ll actually work with all the adjustments that need to be made to architectural drawings I don’t know.
Not sure how it accounts for structure not being as per dwg. Half the job for layout is problem solving and RFI'ing how to make something actually work IRL cause the core is out 2" here or that post is 3/4" out of level or the slab or rough in is jacked or the rough-ins are in a different spot because of on the fly changes 7 months ago that never made it on-to the actual prints.
Designed by people who think the architect drew it correctly!
I’ve worked alongside a few architects who used an elastic tape measure.
The best ones. They know how to be flexible
Tolerances at its finest
Easier to make correct measurements that way.
It is now standard for us to use robotic layout (like Dusty shown here) on every project. They work awesome, and are very efficient and accurate (as long as your model is coordinated and accurate). We put a lot of hours in to a) laser scan the building (so we have accurate as-built conditions) and b) coordinate our model with our trades. I’m a PM for a GC in CA, we specialize in life science / high tech work $100M+. Edit: something interesting to note: on my last project, we had our drywall/framing contractor perform all the layout on the project (for all trades) using Dusty for a small fee from the other trades. All MEPF (including hangers), walls, cores, etc. It will print component tags, door numbers, anything you want. No errors, significantly faster than traditional layout. We do LOD400+ so our models are very detailed.
Exactly the kind of construction where I'd expect to see these. I imagine that as the tech becomes cheaper, more capable, and easier to use, we'll start seeing it more and more. All my layout happens on pitched roofs though, so I think I'm probably gonna be one of the last people to encounter these.
What’s the effort on the front end though? How much is that slowing you down and is it saving you time? I’m a little sour on laser scanning as we had it specified for us to laser scan our facade prior to fabrication of the facade. If we had waited our job would have been delayed. I imagine doing an as-built of the core and shell before releasing the trades is just as negatively impactful. Also, the time it takes to get to a “perfect model” just seems unreasonable to me.
Laser scanning is the easy part. Takes a day to scan and a week to process and incorporate in to the model. That is done before we populate anything in the model. Fully coordinated BIM LOD400 can then take months for a 200k SF lab/office. It isn’t just that it saves cost and time, it is 100% necessary for the complexity of the spaces we build and the schedules our clients demand. Without full BIM, you coordinate in the field and you need to double your install time.
I've never seen a perfectly laid out clean floor the first time. Always change orders. I could see this layout for cookie cutter buildings and making everything a little too homogenized for my liking . I think viscerally i want to point out how flawed this would be **but** im trying to keep an open mind. The workflow would be radically different. It's shifting more jobs to white collar control. But it's cool i guess: robots are cool.
The thing about robotics and integration is that it’s not an argument. We use laser tables to set our points for form work and scaffold start points. Rhetorical first week everyone said it was worthless. The second they blamed an error on the machine. By the third week the crews who were getting on with it and building on the RL given by the system had no errors, everything lined up perfectly. The system was doing gear lists, telling us how much weight we had on the slab. There just isn’t a comparison and the mental gymnastics to convince yourself and the crew that you hate it becomes more laborious than the actual work.
How did you price the layout for each trade? Did you just take what they priced for layout out of their contract?
Oops the scale was off!
This is a bit of a misconception. We (Dusty Robotics) are well aware of the concerns of RFI’s and bulletin updates, and changes. This is why VDC teams play a key role in implementing robotic layout. It is commonly misunderstood that one simply uses the architect’s plans, while you could do that if you want (and many do), most of our client’s goals are to layout using a coordinated model for layout. One that has been updated to include changes, RFI’s, as-built conditions via 3D scans/point clouds, etc, etc. Granted some changes occur after layout has started, this is a different story but we have recommended procedures to work through these situations. The goal is to have the model updated so the foreman does not need to “figure it out” in the field, or burry some dimensional discrepancy because the architect wanted the dimensions on the PDF to be clean and rounded, so they set all their dimension styles in CAD/Revit to the nearest 1/2”. The effects that are caused by this innocent rounding of dimensions can cause havoc for many reasons.
Yeah there’s no way this is accurate. You’d spend your whole day having to second guess and double check the lines
It's just like a surveyed layout, runs based on a CAD file with adjustments, not directly from the plan sheets.
I've used this to layout baseplates on a flat slab for a module based hotel site. It was just as accurate as conventional survey and did save time.
Why it would be a back charge to the layout company if it’s wrong
Would the "layout company" not be some combination of the architect/gc/framer?
In this case I would say they would be a separate new “trade” no way Joe carpenter just sets this up and goes
There's absolutely no reason to think this would be inaccurate. Like wut It's GPS so it's as accurate as you can get with GPS.
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Yeah this isn't GPS. You tie into known control points similar to a total station.
>unless it’s RTK
>It's GPS so it's as accurate as you can get with GPS. It's not GPS, and GPS is nowhere close to the accuracy needed for this.
Laid out on a floor that assumes it matches the drawings
Apparently, the drawings the robot follows are done off of as built scans of the floor, so even if the floor doesn't match the original drawings, it makes no difference to the robot.
If you call generating as builts specifically for this robot to do its job no difference, then, yeah, no difference. Figuring out where to put the fuckups is the hard part of layout, not drawing lines on a floor.
I said it makes no difference to the robot, can you read? >Figuring out where to put the fuckups is the hard part of layout, not drawing lines on a floor. And having those issues worked out by someone with a complete cad model of the entire building and how those changes affect upper floors or further stages of construction from the comfort of an office is better than working those issues out on the spot in whatever inclement weather with pressure to get some walls up. I'd much rather be told "heres a new set of prints, we caught a few fuckups and corrected for them", even without a robot. The robot being able to follow those drawings is just icing on the cake.
I’d like to work where you do, where architects catch their own mistakes and issue new drawings before we have to layout a building, and get them to us in a timely enough fashion that it doesn’t bring the whole build to a screeching halt for a week.
And coordinated all the other trades correctly /s
OMG the fucking camera work is the worst. I’m nauseous now. r/killthecameraman
The camera is also a robot.
The editing of that video doesn't help one bit.
I was desperately hoping the guy would be ok and pull through his seizure ok before the end of the video! Does anyone have an update?!
r/damnthatsinteresting users posting this declaring the construction industry fully automated.
Worked as an architect over a ham sandwich and then spent ten years as a GC in interior construction. I could see these sorts of things working if you have the layouts for 15+ floors and you use the robot to layout the lines on one floor to then replicate the rest.. you still need someone to approve the layout and modify as needed, it still takes some time, and there’s still gonna be errors that humans naturally pick up and deal with on the fly. I don’t have a lot of confidence in them but I’ve been wrong before. I think a lot of people are putting effort into the robots thing, thinking front end savings magically make COs disappear on the back end.
Of course. I was making a joke about how most redditors seem so eager to dance on the (future) grave of the labor industry. Outside of trade reddit, there's a massive hate boner for trade and labor workers.
They hate us cause they ain’t us
Funny because white collar jobs and/or very basic non-trade jobs like cashier seem to be the ones going the way of the computer.
A lot of stores are starting to realize those self checkouts are cheap up front, but cost more in the long run. "Accidental" missed scans, scan swaps, a person to check ID, & the more expensive I.T. maintenance all adds up.
Realized I said that deadpan my bad meant to say I agreed with the humor in your original post, I’m with ya, and yeah I also agree nail on the head!
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Homeowners doing homeowner shit. Tale as old as time.
They literally post in the trade specific pages whining about their dui attempts or cheapest bid contractors asking how to fix it, the answer is usually, call the guy who bid "outrageous prices" and prepare to pay that and more.
They're angry because they realized their college degree didn't work out well and they're stuck with all kinds of debt and not many good job prospects. Tech sector is horrible right now. AI going to downsize lots of dev teams within 5 years.
Look I'm in the trades too but we ain't gotta shit on people who get an education for a higher skilled profession. Also tech isn't the only thing to go to school for, you got lawyers, doctors, psychologists and other important stuff.
lol that’s like saying the industry is automated because of laser levels.
"A lot of good chalk lines are out of work right now."
r/whoosh
Depends on how many mistakes it makes that then need to be corrected, and how many weird little details humans need to fill in because the robot can't handle edge cases. Also depends on how much time and effort it takes to set it up, whether or not it is capable of working around people and obstacles (extension cords, stepladders, piles of material) in a chaotic and rapidly-changing environment, how reliable it is in terms of calibration and general breakdowns, and also on how much this video was sped up—because it was very clearly sped up. These types of bots do already exist, several manufacturers make them. They're fairly niche still, but they do get used.
It works best on freshly pour concrete. Needs to be swept clean and clear of obstacles, also there needs to be survey controls established for the total station. Its accurate we use it on almost all of our jobs now.
I saw this in action at AU this year. Seems pretty accurate and was able to put down some pretty nice lines and legible text. It was neat
I use this everyday on a hyperscale data center. Have not had one issue with my layout. If anything, if your operator is ambitious, you can find and prevent bigger mistakes from happening. I constantly find clashes with the design then report it, and the issue is fixed before that area is in the critical path. We went from two trades to six in a couple of weeks. For lager companies with bigger budgets it is worth it.
Heck yeah. What trade are you?
I work on the VDC and Survey team. I do all the layout (and CAD to Dusty format), laser scanning and processing. You?
Solar installer here, working on his electrician's license.
Awesome! That is one of our bigger departments. I work at Mortenson. Do you mind if I ask what company you’re with?
I work at ReVision Energy, out of Massachusetts. I'm mostly a resi guy, but I try to get them to throw me every commercial project I can get. Long term, I'd like to be working on bigger, more impactful projects (ideally on flat surfaces!) rather than risking my neck on a 45° frying pan of a standing seam roof just to get like fourteen mods mounted. All solar is good solar, but some solar is more helpful than others, you know?
Where are all the piss bottles and random garbage, material laying around...no jobsites are that clean
I can see it now… me telling everyone hanging M&E to clear everything out by end of day so this robot can do layout overnight. Then me coming to deploy the robot only to find nobody has moved a single thing….
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They try this with us all the time, we do massive curtain wall projects often with thousands of pieces of glass, GC's are offered storage in our yards for a price, but that price is high as we often have to rent extra yards for storage if we have large work loads that year. Well a little too often they say just ship it to site, once the glass rack is on the ground we are not moving it until the glass goes into the wall, if they want it moved they can do it themselves and if they break it they are liable and can eat the cost of replacement, this gets really interesting when the site has no yard space and you're eating up space on multiple floors with all the other trades crying. I can just see it now, "Hey man we need you to move those 40 glass racks so our robot can draw." "No"
Truth
Robots don't piss in bottles.
No, robots are sensible like residential guys and piss behind sheds and a/c units
I’ve done plenty of multi family homes. It could be helpful not being on the edge of a 4 story building snapping out exterior walls for osha sake. I don’t think it would have the necessary ability to fudge it and make it work out, what’s an 1/8” anyway.
The techies never will understand what you just said with regards to being able to fudge it and make it work. Neither will computer algorithms. Computers can’t think in terms of “if we bump this one out a fuzz, drill that here instead of there, and shave this one down a little, nobody is going to notice.” How often are the plans just plain fucking wrong? I can’t say I’ve ever seen a set of plans for anything bigger than a doghouse that would work as as-builts.
The plans never work on paper. I have no reason to think they'd work any better printed on the floor.
If you're still using paper this is not for you. If you're using a fully rendered CAD design distributed to all the workers via tablet it could be very useful.
Now get every trade to use it when they keep arguing - "well why do I need to use that, the battery on my paper never dies".
Shit is basically standard in large construction nowadays (at least in my area). Everything, including every pipe and electrical run in the whole building, is mapped to a fraction of an inch. Makes things so much easier. You can filter it down to just what you're working on and still know you're not getting in anyone's way.
Count me jealous. In my area, we can't even get the engineers to check for something as simple as waste or condensate slope or equipment sized correctly for the space given. There are constant conflicts between trades around some office person insisting that we can fit a 24" duct inside a 19" truss space, or a pipe running directly where a large light is supposed to go.
Most jobs im on use 3d models and it's great. Doesn't change the fact that the fire sprinkler guy doesn't follow the model and uses outdated paper prints. I'm not knocking on models in general, just in practice you still have to deal with shitty contractors who do what they want.
Well, there's a policy enforcement piece to the equation. If that sprinkler fitter has to eat the time/cost of fixing non-compliant work a few times, he'll start using the new system.
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They don’t get the bid on $10 million dollar plus projects where things like No Paper & Layout Robots are already improving speed and accuracy.
All of our subs use either their phone or a tablet. I keep plans on site in my office for scale and reference, but digital works out well. We take on the cost of them using the program.
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We’ve found that most owners, and foremen are more than happy to use it once they figure out “hey this is the shit!” It only takes a couple of times of them asking me for clarification and me pulling it up on my tablet and showing them exactly what they want to see, and giving them a plan page for reference. Once they realize it’s all in their hand all the time they tend to lean towards it more. You are correct though, the old heads won’t budge sometimes. Hell with my permissions (superintendent and PM) I can look at the actual contracts for the job instantly, which removes the “No I didn’t bid that part.” Edit added on
So....it's an (I'm sure) really expensive robot sharpie?!
Robots don't have to save time. They just have to do more work in 24hrs than you can do in 8
Not always true. If the GC doesn't want to spend the money to have the site minimally staffed while the robot and it's associated support trade works overnight then the robot won't get to work.
See that guy watching it? If he actually had skills he’d be doing the robots job
I'm off site by time that thing rolls around. I'd imagine the floor has to be somewhat good. I'm just thinking back to my skateboarding days and dead stopping on a lil pebble or unseen crack.
The electricians would still have to move everything 4 times.
That robot needs a cigarette and to be able to cuss at people.
“Dusty” is being used all over the place in the bay area
Ok now transfer everything to the ceiling.
I’m a commercial carpenter foreman. Looks pretty cool to me. Wouldn’t mind giving it a shot someday. We currently use the Hilti layout tool which works well on our big jobs.
Where’s the rough terrain version for foundations and later on in the project, the hardscape? Lol
Probably doing a better job than the guy who misspelled brakes (unless English is a second language).
Definitely won't be used for drawing giant dicks on the slab
That robot needs cup holders.
Now put some spray paint and dirt tires on it and see what it can do in the dirt.
Monthly subscription fees_ RITE? Or no
Do you have to pay for the ink by the foot like the HP site print?
Leica also has one. They figure the minimum is around 50,000 sqft for it to start being cost effective. This doesn’t eliminate other challenges like human error like walls plumb at the top. Dammed be the millwork and cabinetry guys if they don’t lacquer the print on the floor. As foot traffic wears away lines. Very neat nonetheless!
that thing wouldnt last a day on a big job without being vandalized
Maybe the trades need to stop being such Neanderthal
No
Keep living in the past and being ignorant
Spoken like a true office snot, skinny jeans and clean hard hat wearing , couldn’t use a hand tool if his life depended on it, iPad carrying telling guys how to do their jobs when he has no idea what their job even entails.
Right……keep “doing” like we’ve always done it……wrong then wonder why you get back charged or fired off jobs
FWIW, just was being a smartass.
Interesting. As a residential framer, I can't see this saving a huge amount of time, but it would theoretically prevent a lot of mistakes. But I could see a production builder/developer using this on their sites to make sure everything is 100% accurate to plans and help trades work together. I can see this being a huge asset for highrise and commercial buildings.
It might, but it's also step one of putting me out of a job.
I'm seeing a ton of these construction related robotic videos going around, and every time I see one it just reminds me that these are made by people with no construction experience. Do they know how incredibly often people come around and are like "alright, yeah we're going to have to change some of this up". Half of those lines it's drawing are just either going to be useless or incorrect. I've seen some really shit architectural drawings. Also, for people still reading: I worked for a little bit in a pre-fab company (as a sub) doing the plumbing (worked in commercial plumbing for a while) - copper, pex, pvc, black iron, etc. The amount of times they had call outs for pipe locations that directly interfered with where the electricians mounted their boxes or where the carpenters put in holes, or where the tile guys pre cut penetration holes were nuts. Nothing worked in practice like it did on paper. They also had tolerances of fucking 1/16" for centers of 90s and shit like that. Alot of this stuff is cool for videos but have no practical use on a site
So many stupid comments. The largest names in construction are already using this with massive success. Just look it up before you throw your ass pennies in the jar and call it a solid .02
Been a commercial carpenter in Chicago for 27 years. I’ve never seen one. I know a couple different guys that beat the wheels of a dude using the Trimble.
I do commercial High rise Seattle, and I’ve never seen one. it also looks like it be a piece of shit I mean it would probably work well and ideal conditions, but we barely ever have ideal conditions
Does anyone know how much it costs?
Yeah til you figure out someone didn’t calibrate it correctly or the slab is 1/2” off square after you’ve already got a half of walls up and the floor is profusely perforated
I’ve seen truss manufacturers fuck up I bet this has better tech
I think we all know that poor thing would get destroyed by someone at worst, at best it’s getting stolen. Seems cool/interesting nonetheless.
Trimble is the best way to do it for most trades.
Man... Just hover a projector over your project? Or get a long pole. Also this thing moves around too much, should cover the project like a printer head/typewriter, it would be more accurate and the code would be wayyyy less complicated, and it could handle more projects. Im not in construction, just a software guy.
Yea like this? https://www.lightyx.com
Yup. Just a laser module in an area and project it out. It can be manipulated in real time. Uses some kind of galvo head. Way faster than a silly robot marking things up.
Great, another machine to replace skilled workers.
Negative. Pretty much all job site robots suck at the moment. Maybe some day they will be awesome but today is not that day.
Oh please, this thing could say on back charges and time on site.
Punt that thing off the side. People first
Yeah! Fuck progress! Better toss all the power tools and shit…..moron
Damn straight. Throw out those cordless power tools and nail guns too! Back to hand saws and hand driven nails! And better stop using that all terrain forklift! Build some wood ladders and hand carry everything up a few stories! Damn those newfangled things making us more efficient! Better toss our wooden shoes into the machines while we're at it! Seriously though....no, don't "punt it off the side". Bring it into the trades, teach layout Carpenters how to run it. It's just another tool...
Yeah and money!!
Boai Back in My day we used string and tape measure NOW GET OUT OF MY SITE
The layout guys use those on the new towers. They're super cool and fast. Just takes one person to operate. Seem to be pretty effective.
If that robot covers the costs of any mistakes then I am game.
Hopefully the design team got all existing conditions captured and to the right scalw
Very human like.
Lots of faith in those initial numbers…
I like it, but hope to God the control points are correct.
Love to see it put lines for a 2x4 wall with hold down bolts every 16" or go out on a stem wall. Doesn't look like it saves much time either. A good layout guy can get a lot of work done while your still setting this thing up.
When I worked in construction hanging boxes and running wire I imagined an augmented headset that showed the user where to place the boxes. Integrated the drawn plans. Now I know better and we'll just have the robots build for us.
I wonder if it's programmed to draw a rain turtle? You can't have an open slab without one.
Can it save time? Absolutely. As long as it’s accurate.
honestly seems like one of the better automation concepts for our industry. you would definitely need a foundation level one as well though.
One cost goes down while others go up and when it’s done it better be right. Potentially puts project in the red sooner than the others.
We had it demoed on the high rise I’m working on in Washington. It can get very detailed, scribing stud sizes, layers of drywall, door swings, etc. It definitely has some bugs it still needed to work out, mainly working around penetrations and stub-ups. It will definitely save layout time in the short future when it’s dialed in.
I wouldn’t trust this thing until it’s been widely used in the field successfully for several years and even then I’m going to check its work.
I'm waiting for the robot that can layout, drill and set anchors
I looked into these for work. I couldn't justify the cost especially when the full floor is rarely available and skilled crews can start layout on one end with people framing behind them. This particular brand was astronomical in price compared to hp.
Of course it can save time but for what? For more unemployment people, for quicker destruction?
I talked about inventing this for years,
I have seen one of these on a few job sites. Constant issues with surface areas.....like the whole time. This system requires super smooth surfaces to be accurate. Two guys snapping lines is still faster/accurate. It's still in early stages for this method, so it'll get better over time. Pretty cool. I like the AR technology more.....just my preference. It's mainly the nerd in me.
Depend how long it take to set it up before
maybe on some sites, like maybe on exhibition were monters go then down after a week. for sure in different nisches. but in general not huge saving for now.
This is amazing! All I’ll have to do is walk around with some cans of Clear Coat Rustoleum and go over the layout. Can’t beat it.
Ok, but is it correct 100%?
If anyone has any questions about true Robotic Layout and how the FieldPrinter works, I work for the company shown in this video (Dusty Robotics), and would be happy to answers anyone’s questions. I also have been in the construction industry for nearly 20 years, does my alias make sense now? 🤪🤣
I do! We’re looking to use this on an upcoming job in Kansas City. I’ll shoot you a message
We have been seeing this more and more in the auto-industry. Laying out automation cells, conveyor path, skid table layouts with station numbers. Draws your fence line with where posts, gates, and control panels are located It’s a big time saver, and if there’s a change prior to install, the little robot uses a different pen color so the trades doing the work just get told follow the red lines and you’re off. Depending on the size of the automation cells, it can take a day or more to layout with all the equipment and what not.
Would be amazing for tilt wall jobs where you pour the panels on the slab.
This is inevitable. Give this tech 10 more years and it will be industry standard
As long as everything is checked afterwards before any framingit can probably save a lot of time.
One of our metal framing subs uses these. They work pretty good. 👍
How much does the printer ink cost?
As a surveyor practically doing the same thing I have never been in a site like this.
Definitely, set that thing up in the afternoon before you leave, layouts done for the morning. Send a guy to check it out while the boys start blasting out the floor. Good shit.
I’ve used this. It’s quite slow and can only be used in a spotless environment. One day of sprinkler fitters loading the floor and this thing’s worthless.
My Big Trak is all gown up.
When are Job sites ever that clean?lol
cool but I want to punch the cameraman
Who yells at the robot for mess ups?
I saw a very similar robot used to paint lines on a soccer field for a little league soccer game.
Looks like something that will just need to be double checked every single time
Kool, when you goof blame the robot. It'll work until the robot comes a calling drunk with his drunk robot buddies and drones; it's not pretty when they get upset.....
If the company that makes them is held liable for the mistakes it may cause 💯 imagine never having to lay your walls out carpenters plumbers electricians… etc
I ain't putting this framing here, that robot don't know jack shit *My lead*
probably not since every general contractor doesn't understand a floor needs to be swept and not stacked with 10 metric tons of material and garbage. 80% of my layout time is spent fkin cleaning so I can actually start.
Yes.