study sees increasing use of robots in the construction industry

A new report is forecasting a 10 percent jump in the use of robots in throughout the U.S. construction industry in the next five years.

Published by Pioneer Reports, which has offices in Los Angeles, Construction Robots Market Report 2019 to 2024 predicts that the total U.S. market value for robots used in the construction industry will increase from a current $220 million to $350 million in 2024.

Such robots are used for everything from 3D printing to remote control rescue and demolition. 

A separate study published by the Boulder-based research group Tractica called Construction & Demolition Reports predicts the use of more than 7,000 construction robots nationally by the year 2025, more than twice the number recorded a decade ago.

Both reports come in the wake of a study authored by Borja Garcia de Soto in the magazine Wired who argues that the use of robotics in the construction process is “more than good engineering, it is also smart business.”

The New York University civil engineering professor adds: “By comparing the cost and time spent on human-built walls to walls built by robots, we found that as the level of complexity increases, automation pays off.”

De Soto adds that such robot-built walls allows architects, designers, engineers, and contractors to make more late-stage changes without having to worry about significant increased costs or schedule delays.

By Garry Boulard

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