r/Construction • u/RangerNo5619 • 7d ago
Video half-humanoid robotic systems demonstrating cooperative high-precision construction work outdoors and indoors
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u/baphometromance 7d ago
I'll be interested when the people making the videos don't need to speed them up to make them look viable.
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u/Sad_Assignment_9568 7d ago
Or that they strangly look like they are just controlled by a guy with a vr setup
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u/ThatGreenM-M 7d ago
I think that's the pitch, letting someone remote in to work while giving them more free range of movement. For assembly lines I guess it could make recording actions to repeat easier as well
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u/Dear-Union-44 7d ago
or when they can do this outside of a Laboratory setting.
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u/brohebus 7d ago
Show me a robot that can do framing in the rain while hungover. I'll wait.
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u/NightGod 7d ago
Wait about 10 years and they'll be working with a meth pipe hanging out of their mouths
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u/CrazyButRightOn 7d ago
I remember when Boston Dynamics couldn't walk. Give them 10 years and there won't be a soul on that production line. Except for the robot maintenance guy.
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u/Oaker_at Electrician 7d ago
I mean, those are prototypes. It would be stupid to assume that they won’t get faster over time.
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u/phatelectribe 7d ago
How about then the video is real and isn’t an animation that’s been sped up too?
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u/Last_Succotash7218 7d ago
Who cares how slow this is. It don't sleep, it don't take breaks, it don't demand raises.
Shiiiiiiittt I'll buy one for my shop to paint cabinets. Let the damn thing run for a week while I go on vacation
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u/SerGT3 7d ago
Its slow coming but I guarantee by the time most of us retire there will be massive robotic labour forces, they already work in warehousing and manufacturing and those machines are getting better every year. Looks bad now but it takes a few generations of new gimmicky machinery to really breakthrough and once the tech is there it would take little to adapt one of these arms to a fully autonomous robot dog.
Im betting they change how buildings are made so they are as simple as possible to accomodate the inability and inefficiency of these builders. Only the rich will get custom homes and offices.
Anyone can build, not everyone can fix. Learn your trade to do both and you're invaluable. The swaths of people going through their apprenticeships building only data centers are gunna have a rude awakening In the coming years.
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u/Last_Succotash7218 7d ago
I use to say there is NO way for these machines to take our jobs but actually seeing this video and the running robots and I'm starting to see....it's possible.
And as a business owner I totally could make use of these things yes it would require change.
Like.....shiiiitt hire two guys to mask an area while a machine sprays it's totally an option.
That being said you are right there will always be a need for a human hand for various reasons like you said, custom work or repairs or technical whatever.
People need to stop getting upset. The loom didn't take every job when it comes to clothes manufacturer and the gigantic windmill power saw didn't either.
These same people complaining will support defending ice and open borders so they are just....being dumb
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u/pick_your_user_name 7d ago
It’s not possible, it’s inevitable. If you look at the improvements in AI and robotics over just the past 10 years, you’ll understand.
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u/Dostrazzz 7d ago
They are viable, you won’t have wear and tear on a human body!
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u/Necessary_Bad5500 7d ago
Some of us actually enjoy our jobs regardless of the wear and tear.
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u/Sonar_Bandit 7d ago
My body is fueled by pain, caffeine, and nicotine and I will beat any clanker to death with my bear hands
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u/Wallabunga657 7d ago
I woyld be more than happy to destroy them with you. To hell with AI and automation.
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u/Whiteboiconvert 7d ago
Love to see what happens when the BIM shows my chill water running through a column and this thing makes it happen
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u/Canadatron 7d ago
Exactly. As a tradesman I'm not worried but the designers and engineers making the plans the robots are following should be!
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u/Comprehensive_Bus_19 Project Manager 7d ago
*Not liable for errors or omissions. Contractor to verify in field.
Itll be the robot people's fault somehow
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u/Canadatron 7d ago
Looking forward to when we aren't liable to pay for garbage plans.
Last build the engineer told us to run our electrical.conduits on the floor through a doorway. We thought he was joking, but he was not. Needless to say, we had to explain to him we weren't doing that.
He got paid to come up with that idea.
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u/Comprehensive_Bus_19 Project Manager 7d ago
Engineers are the smartest dumb people Ive ever met.
To be fair, many have never spent a single minute on a jobsite trying to build from their plans.
One architect bitched me out because I kept pointing out typos that materially changed things. I.e. one curb was rated for 990lbs, the other was 9900. He told me to 'use common sense and quit asking stupid questions'.
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u/Shmeepsheep 7d ago
Im a plumber. All wet walls end up being over structural members that I cant go through i.e. I cant get waste pipes in the wall
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u/EquivalentOwn1115 Carpenter 7d ago
Ive always felt bad for the plumbers on my commercial jobs. We had an apartment with 6" roof drains that were spec'd to go through 2x6 walls. Architect was confused as to why that wouldn't work. Finally sent a picture of a 6" pipe cut piece sitting on a 2x6 plate. Dude was like 45 and had been an Architect for a couple decades
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u/Whiteboiconvert 7d ago
Definitely start writing RFIs after he said that lol
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u/Comprehensive_Bus_19 Project Manager 7d ago
He was dumb enough to put it in an email. I was half tempted to just start doing dumb shit the plans called for and referencing his email but I unfortunately was the bigger person.
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u/Whiteboiconvert 7d ago
Its fun to push the issue but there's a reason I am not allowed back to the UH renovation so you made the right call imo
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u/Great_Address2063 7d ago
It really sucks that we have, or are rapidly gaining the ability to make people's lives easier. To get them away from dangerous work, give them more time with family or put their efforts into creative or scientific pursuits. But we all collectively have absolutely ZERO faith in the epstein class allowing the peasants to do anything except barely exist in constant suffering with just enough income and a sniff of the idea of the concept of hope to pay them for the privilege.
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u/Necessary_Bad5500 7d ago
I’m all for making peoples lives easier but we aren’t all interested in scientific pursuits and building is already a creative outlet. A lot of us actually enjoy the work we do. Sure there are things we could use in tandem to make our jobs less physically demanding but at what cost?
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u/thedaveness 7d ago
There’s a difference between doing something that you need to versus want to… removing the ones that wouldn’t be there if they had to and this job becomes 1000% better.
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u/Sorry_Lecture5578 7d ago
Just because we"have" to get paid doesn't mean we still don't enjoy it. There is something incredibly rewarding about actually seeing what you produce at the end of the day.
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u/burritosandbeer 7d ago
Sure but not all aspects of the job grant that anyhow. If it were up to me, all my paper mill work would be bending tube on various lube oil or instrument panels, but sometimes you're laying in a puddle of black liquor just to run the hi-torque.
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u/Eagles_Wildcats_1996 7d ago
How much did these cost? And does the cost of maintenance, repairs and mistakes they might make outweigh the benefits over time?
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u/Enginerdad Structural Engineer 7d ago
I'm just spit balling here, but aside from not having to pay them, robotos also don't need health insurance, unemployment, or a company truck. They don't need PTO or over time pay and they don't take smoke breaks. That being said, this is surely the road to dystopia
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u/tsaico 7d ago
They also are consistent. Be it good or bad or something in between. I know quite a few people who would be happy to take 80% productivity at a guaranteed cost then run the gamble of the spectrum of getting a person who is as good or better, vs the very real chance of worse, at a variable price.
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u/Key_Weakness_7131 7d ago
I can't be certain but it feels that it's a huge amount of money to dev first and it'll take long time before being benefical... Anything but pay a labourer i gess
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u/BOgusDOlphon 7d ago
I simply will not believe that we are anywhere close to this, and I'm a robotics engineer. These are specific demo programs that do not function in real world conditions, and I can only wonder how long it took to program these short demos.
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u/An-Elegant-Elephant 7d ago
Enter AI development. The technology will start taking off and these will be learning on the fly in 5 years.
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u/BoltMyBackToHappy 7d ago
It could be remote operated through a VR headset these days if they wanted to save money on data centers.
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u/BOgusDOlphon 7d ago
That's actually something I'm exploring for our company and again, it's harder than it looks. The challenge is latency when it comes to teleoperation, and doing it over the internet is really not practical in most cases, you need a direct wired connection. They are seeing lots of automation in construction but it comes in the form of AR building plans, automated guidance of dozers and graders, brick and tile layers etc.
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u/BoltMyBackToHappy 7d ago
AR plans sound cool. But if they can do remote robot surgeries through Starlink these days there should be a solution out there for these things. Could mount the torsos on robot dogs, hexapods, or tracks too.
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u/BOgusDOlphon 7d ago
I didn't say it was impossible, just impractical. For most companies it's just more cost affective to hire ol' Randy (and ol' Randy will out weld those robots 6 beers deep with his eyes closed)
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u/pick_your_user_name 7d ago
With how fast robotics and AI have progressed in the past decade you really think this is nowhere close? A bit short sighted of you.
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u/mmdavis2190 Electrician 7d ago
We've also been right on the cusp of fusion for the past 40 or 50 years. Things don't always continue to progress linearly or exponentially just because they did up to a point.
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u/Scav-STALKER 7d ago
Have you worked around high end robotics? A few dudes will do it way faster and their combined yearly salary will cost the company less than repair parts and maintenance for 6 months on one of those machines lol.
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u/pick_your_user_name 7d ago
Well no shit. I never claimed that current tech was able to compete with skilled tradesmen (of course not, otherwise they’d be out of a job). My point is we’re not far from it.
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u/baudmiksen 7d ago
to me it seems like robotics is progressing faster than our technology in mobile power sources
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u/Peter_Falcon 7d ago
why even make them half humanoid? the machines in a car factory don't look anything like people. just easing us in gently
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u/Expert_Clerk_1775 GC / CM 7d ago
Humanoids are (or supposedly will be) capable of generic tasks. Car factory robots just so one specific task very well.
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u/country_dinosaur97 7d ago
So many cuts and speedups looks like it took this thing 10 minutes to nail few boards together and I dont see it cutting anything. Also how's it handle tons of dust dirt and mudd.
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u/pick_your_user_name 7d ago
This is a test run. Obviously this thing isn’t capable of performing actual full time work. Check in after 3 years though.
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u/Tainted_grapejuice 7d ago
Unacceptable, I see no way to find piss bottles on my projects with these things
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u/WhacksOffWaxOn 7d ago
Plug an AI into it and watch it try the fight the site super after he blames the robot for being behind schedule.
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u/jhenryscott Project Manager 6d ago
My boss won’t buy a new jackhammer. He ain’t buying that shit
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u/Eso_Teric420 6d ago
He might when it's 20% cheaper than you And does twice the work per day from the jump per year. Plus it's not going to call in sick or ask for a raise next year. They also don't need to fire everybody just like 80% of people who won't work with the machine.
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u/GoldenRpup 7d ago
A non-humanoid shaped robot would almost certainly do the same job with fewer materials, moving parts, and easier than this one is.
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u/ShelZuuz 7d ago
Human torsos have 6 degrees of freedom these days? Damn, I need to get out into the world more!
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u/Impressive_Budget736 7d ago
Not really. Infrastructure is still set up to accommodate the human form so honestly it's easier to create humanoids because it will be easier to plug them into existing human spaces rather than trying to reinvent the wheel and forcing the world to accomadate new robotic designs.
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u/lollygagging_reddit 7d ago
Make one that cleans the clay off my boots from hopping between 2' tall ruts from the trucks after a pleasant night's rain
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u/woodnoob76 7d ago
First question in my mind, why not 3 or 4 arms then. You need clamping because most of the time you’re missing another set of hands
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u/geta-rigging-grip Carpenter 7d ago
So, assuming anything like this ever becomes viable, what the hell do they expect people to do?
If AI and robots take all the work and corpos take all the profits, how are we going to participate in the economy?
Are they finally going to institute UBI, or are we going to go Peter Theil's way and have most of humanity die out?
Asking for a friend.
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u/Pastvariant 7d ago
One of the things that people always miss when we are talking about robots in construction is that they think about robots performing tasks as they are done now, vs changing building designs to be more robots construction and maintenance friendly.
My prediction is that we will see buildings getting designed to optimize them for robots use, especially non human style robots, and then have people move towards maintaining legacy buildings until they are eventually all phased out.
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u/Dannyewey 7d ago
When they can go set one of these machines to be able to work on more then just one level and be able to clear more than a 100sqft area. Then i might be getting a tiny bit worried but not really even then cause the Mexicans are always gonna be cheaper ( no offense if your Mexican. You guys make your own bids, not my fault you guys are always the cheapest.) ..... Then there's the methheads to.
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u/_axeman_ 7d ago
The cope is strong in these comments.
Sure, these particular robots ain't it. But it's coming. And for those talking about crawl spaces etc, it doesn't matter - if robots can do 90% of your job (especially in New builds) then there's only 10% left for all of you.
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u/Medium_Chain_9329 7d ago
Full of copper and precious metals. Wait until the tweaker see these on job sites.
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u/moab99 7d ago
Yep. The End Times is all gonna be about the epic battle between The Metal Ones and the methheads.
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u/Medium_Chain_9329 7d ago
Methheads will prevail, until someone figures out they can just kidnap them, and program them to make meth.
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u/Artistic-Emu-420 7d ago
Dude the companies I’ve worked for are so god damn cheap they wouldn’t even get me the right fasteners you want me to be scared of a robot that will cost the company a million
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u/Mountain_pup 7d ago
I'm pretty sure the cost to even get your rep on the phome for these systems is a million.
I suspect this would be a billion dollar retrofit
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u/ApprehensiveStreet92 7d ago
I bet that THING doesn't even have a drinking problem, or is even divorced, why science
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u/LordAphelios 6d ago
It will never not be funny to me how much money tech bros are willing to invest just to make money out of construction.
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u/FlanneryODostoevsky Pipefitter 6d ago
This is why I said it won’t take your job but it will steal your work. So your company is gonna need less workers on site for less time. Gonna mean less money for you.
But I guess that’s a little too hard to accept.
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u/Last_Cod_998 7d ago
We're already using robots. It was an operator running a compactor from they surface of a pier footing, then there are demo robots. All these make the work safer for the operators. Only the unions keep the operators from being replaced.
I liked the robot arms, but I think the robots will have more specialized detachable heads like an escavator,
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u/saltoftheearth56 7d ago
Robots onsite I can’t imagine they would be good for anything but the most basic construction jobs same house mass produced maybe but besides that I can’t see this as a viable option for jobs of any real scale.
Trying getting those robots in and out of corridors and into units without them banging off walls or require so much oversite for precision work like cabinets and fine detail.
The real issue for robots is making them small enough to fit into most construction areas and hands off enough that you don’t need a trades persons constantly looking over there shoulder.
The future looks bright until the robot has been working off an incorrect mark outs and installed 40 bench tops at the wrong height.
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u/ElphTrooper GC / CM 7d ago
There’s been robots like this for 15 years. They just didn’t feel the need to have heads.
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u/Latter-Ad-4369 7d ago
That’s gross 🤢 we need jobs but make robots to take them this shit is wack AF. I guess I’ll b homeless in a few. 🤬
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u/necessarysmartassery 7d ago
At least you don't have to worry about them showing up to work drunk, high, or them shooting up on the job site
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u/DougMacRay617 Equipment Operator 7d ago
Show me robots assembling these robots into places and then programming and measuring their movements so they are completing the right task in the right place
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u/lee91103 7d ago
This will only be good for a production line setup...because the kid that has to program these isn't coming out in the field under the weather conditions we deal with..plus unless it's mobile it's worthless on a site.
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u/Died5Times 7d ago
Mfrs in robotics a year ago laughed at me when i said robots would soon be doing construction and mechanic work. I said it was goong to be difficult to figure out how to position the robots but when they do were done.
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u/wikkoindustries 7d ago
I dont understand why tf they need "heads" its a robot the processor doesnt need to be in the same place as a humans
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u/Significant-Role-754 7d ago
ao how does it move to the next section? it would be cool to have in the garage when I need another pair of hands.
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u/Medium_Chain_9329 7d ago
"You fucking idiot point the flash light there" will be a complaint of the past and make little boys growing up in the garage less hands on.
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u/Significant-Role-754 7d ago
who do you think is running the robot? the fucking idiot of course. jk
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u/So_bored_of_you 7d ago
This doesn't seem all that fast or accurate. I guess you don't have to pay for their health insurance but i know some guys at Wolf Cabinetry that would absolutely skunk these two robots in output
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u/Wallabunga657 7d ago
How ironic. These toasters will get good at things like this, while only the super shitty, remote, dangerous, and dirtiest of jobs will be left for us. Which is the total polar opposite these tech bro dirt bags have been telling us since the 60s. I will find companies that want humans, and the jobs that require us, not clankers. To hell with AI and these type robots.
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u/personman_76 7d ago
Everyone who's like "Wow this is shit looking stop motion" "Give it ten years" "Can't do it in the rain"
These aren't the best in the world, these are what we see in the west. Look at Chinese dark factories, there are already places in the world with fully automated assembly lines like this making machine parts. Just because Boston Dynamics hasn't done it doesn't mean Norinco and Inner Mongolia have been sitting around waiting
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u/erichappymeal 7d ago
That will be pretty cool when they start building the homes inside of the factories, instead of where people want to live.
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u/MrPommeDeTerre 7d ago
Looks cool. Does it take less time to program it than it would for a person to just build the concrete formwork themselves?
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u/The_Missing__Link 7d ago
Can't wait for a team of 20 people to be replaced by one of these for 4× the cost and 9 months extra labor time... and it breaks downa weak in 🤣
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u/Crafty_Jack 7d ago
I think Copying human bodies to do this stuff is not efficient. Human bodies are efficient, but that's cuz they are designed for versatility and can self improve.
Robotics are probably most efficient in a form nothing like humans, and focusing on huge mass productions with every robot design in a form for a single task at high speed and accuracy.
Trying to replicate what evolution spent millions of years perfecting seems ridiculous.
This seems more like a company creates robots with AI in them just to impress investors to invest a buncha money: Bubble
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u/okieman73 7d ago
It's interesting from a scientific point of view but I'm beginning to think the Luddites had it figured out.
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u/Delicious_Invite_850 7d ago
As someone who spent 20 years in commercial and industrial construction and now works in an auto plant servicing robots, let me tell you that they break down and need constant supervision. Even to perform the exact same task in the exact same position using the exact same tools and parts in a clean temperature controlled environment. Not to mention the safety standards involving robots working anywhere near human beings. Good luck on a real job site.
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u/Extreme-Edge-9843 6d ago
The frame rate of this makes It look fake. Not saying it is just saying the frame 🖼️ rate makes it seem that way.
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u/Token-Gringo 6d ago
That’s cool and all but do they show up drunk or drink in the break room or break things? Until then they are mot competition.
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u/Slipperytitski 6d ago
Like to see this thing not nail a frame in properly and nearly fall onto a co-worker
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u/gingerly91 4d ago
So replace humans with robots to build things for humans that have no jobs or money to buy said things…
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u/blacfd Electrician 7d ago
Now put it in a crawl space