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This seems to be the same age-old problem of construction automation. A system that can really deliver for solar farms could be adapted for many other construct

This seems to be the same age-old problem of construction automation. A system that can really deliver for solar farms could be adapted for many other construction types, at least in principle. Since the world has largely failed to automate construction, and not for lack of trying, you really have to wonder if a startup could really disrupt the field, and I say that as an automation engineer. The Construction Physics blog is mandatory lecture on this subject. You will find the many and varied ways huge companies failed at automating construction, and why construction is just different than other fields: https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/where-are-the-robotic-bricklayers https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/where-are-the-rob... https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/why-did-agriculture-mechanize-and https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/why-did-agricultu... https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/japans-skyscraper-factories https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/japans-skyscraper...

cmuell89 5y ago
I disagree that this is the same age-old problem. Automation in construction has failed more often than not in scenarios that require a high-level of engineering and/or exhibit complex tasking on-site. Your second listed article provides a good rationale for the failure of automation to infiltrate construction: mechanization. Many of the on-site build requirements for construction application are much more complicated and intricate than some of the motions required for agricultural automation. Furthermore, process design in construction is human-centric with a wide gap to transition to automation-centric design. This is well-outlined in your third article e.g. setup/tear-down costs, robot unfriendly environments, start-stop processes. However, Charge Robotics has a problem that is generally free of much of the above hindrances and is employing a modular approach. Modular construction can lend itself very well to automation. See the modular housing boom that employs automation quite heavily. One of the more complex construction portions of the build is handled by a portable factory: "First, a portable robotic factory placed on-site assembles sections of racking hardware and solar modules. This factory fits inside a shipping container. Robotic arms pick up solar modules from a stack and fasten them to a long metal tube (the "torque tube")." This process could also employ human labor as well. The rest of the build process requires a more simple transfer of these pre-built components with a final assembly: "Second, autonomous delivery vehicles distribute these assembled sections into the field and fasten them in place onto target destination piles." The locations of operation are large open fields with minimal occlusion (which often makes robots in many construction settings infeasible) and reuses prior equipment (bankability and minimizes setup/tear down costs). I don't think this is an easy problem as there are significant technical engineering requirements, but if each modular process can be proven effective, then the external factors that prohibit automation adoption in construction outlined above are fairly minimal.
- justicz 5y ago
  Thanks for putting this together! This is basically what we would've written. There are many aspects of solar construction that make it a much more robot-friendly environment to operate in than that of a generic construction site (detailed engineering drawings with GPS locations of piles, graded terrain, low number of obstacles). And as you mentioned, we're eliminating a lot of variables by bringing a portable factory onto the site.
  - cmuell89 5y ago
    Gotta look out for my fellow roboticists ;)
Gravityloss 5y ago
Cost optimized construction switched to large concrete elements in the sixties or so, so brick layers were obsoleted by that. Also a lot less concrete casting is needed. Also bathrooms started arriving as ready made modules etc. The factories that make these, I assume they actually are quite automated?

cmuell89 5y ago

I disagree that this is the same age-old problem. Automation in construction has failed more often than not in scenarios that require a high-level of engineering and/or exhibit complex tasking on-site. Your second listed article provides a good rationale for the failure of automation to infiltrate construction: mechanization. Many of the on-site build requirements for construction application are much more complicated and intricate than some of the motions required for agricultural automation. Furthermore, process design in construction is human-centric with a wide gap to transition to automation-centric design. This is well-outlined in your third article e.g. setup/tear-down costs, robot unfriendly environments, start-stop processes. However, Charge Robotics has a problem that is generally free of much of the above hindrances and is employing a modular approach. Modular construction can lend itself very well to automation. See the modular housing boom that employs automation quite heavily. One of the more complex construction portions of the build is handled by a portable factory: "First, a portable robotic factory placed on-site assembles sections of racking hardware and solar modules. This factory fits inside a shipping container. Robotic arms pick up solar modules from a stack and fasten them to a long metal tube (the "torque tube")." This process could also employ human labor as well. The rest of the build process requires a more simple transfer of these pre-built components with a final assembly: "Second, autonomous delivery vehicles distribute these assembled sections into the field and fasten them in place onto target destination piles." The locations of operation are large open fields with minimal occlusion (which often makes robots in many construction settings infeasible) and reuses prior equipment (bankability and minimizes setup/tear down costs). I don't think this is an easy problem as there are significant technical engineering requirements, but if each modular process can be proven effective, then the external factors that prohibit automation adoption in construction outlined above are fairly minimal.

justicz 5y ago
Thanks for putting this together! This is basically what we would've written. There are many aspects of solar construction that make it a much more robot-friendly environment to operate in than that of a generic construction site (detailed engineering drawings with GPS locations of piles, graded terrain, low number of obstacles). And as you mentioned, we're eliminating a lot of variables by bringing a portable factory onto the site.
- cmuell89 5y ago
  Gotta look out for my fellow roboticists ;)

Gravityloss 5y ago

Cost optimized construction switched to large concrete elements in the sixties or so, so brick layers were obsoleted by that. Also a lot less concrete casting is needed. Also bathrooms started arriving as ready made modules etc. The factories that make these, I assume they actually are quite automated?