For more than 6,000 years, human beings have gone the manual way of physically laying blocks and bricks to construct walls, foundations, columns and other structures. The process can be cumbersome, energy intensive and time consuming. But there’s a new technology revolutionizing this craft, offering an alternative, efficient means in building. FBR, an Australian company that develops building machines has innovated a new, efficient technology with its new development- the Hadrian X, which is the world’s first autonomous bricklaying robot, capable of building brick or block structures outdoors using a 3D CAD (Computer aided design) model without human intervention.
Blocks are loaded onto the back of Hadrian X, then automatically unpacked from the pallets, cut to size using the internal saw, transported through a telescoping boom, applied with adhesive and placed with precision. Unlike the mortar used in masonry to fill gaps between the bricks and blocks, Hadrian X’s model uses adhesives, which reportedly dry much quicker and is stronger.
FBR says its technology can build a three bed, two bath home in less than three days. “Hadrian X functions at night as well, enabling around the clock construction. It reduces waste produced on a typical building site too. Offcuts of blocks are stored internally and used later in the build.”
“As the backbreaking labour component of bricklaying is taken care of, no workers need to enter the working zone of Hadrian while in operation. Because the structure has been built accurately to the plan, finishings are applied to the structure to make it a home.”
In October 2020, the company successfully finished construction of a two-storey structure using Hadrian X.
