The Decade for Construction Robotics is Here.
This post is part of our running series on Hardware Trends. Check out the full report here.
The construction industry has suffered from an immense productivity challenge for the last three decades. As sectors like manufacturing and farming have seen steady increases in productivity, construction has struggled to keep up. That’s because construction sites are complex environments that require more than just management and software tools for productivity gains, which is what also makes them huge opportunities for hardware startups in the years ahead.
As we look towards the next decade, we believe that robotics, hardware, and automation are going to drive immense productivity gains. Some of the ways that we believe this might occur are through bespoke pre-fabrication, digital twinning and project management, and new tools for our workforce.
Bespoke pre-fabrication
Pre-fabrication is not new by any means in the construction industry. However, large scale 3D printing and robotic welding, machining and joining create more opportunities for high-value prefabrication to play a role in construction. Think of what 3D printing did for one-off models vs mass production.
Digital twinning and project management
One of the biggest challenges in the industry is delays due to discrepancies between the digital plan and the real world. Co-ordinating different sub-contractors or inevitable deviations in the building execution impact timelines. Robots and drones can play a role here in continuously updating the Building Information Model with up to date data to help plan, monitor and modify.
Complementing the labour force
There are so many repetitive tasks on sites that can be automated. We have seen some incredibly sophisticated robots to replace humans in the construction space. It is inspiring to watch from a technical perspective. However, we are most excited about robotic tools that look to improve individual worker productivity rather than replace it. Humans are great at dealing with complex environments; they just need better tools.
Because construction is such a complex and diverse market, we don’t believe single companies are going to dominate the sector. Substantial regional variations in building materials, regulations, requirements and employment challenges, mean that there is still a lot of room for startups to drive innovation and product adoption. As international investors, we see this as a critical area for continued growth.
But construction productivity isn’t entirely about construction, however. It’s also about creating efficiency gains in the entire lifecycle of the buildings. Not only are we going to re-imagine the ways that we construct buildings, but also the ways that we maintain and improve them.
This post is part of our running series on Hardware Trends. Check out the full report here.
