Fastbrick Robotics Limited (FBR) has reached another significant milestone in its effort to revolutionise the construction industry with the commencement of construction of the Hadrian X commercial prototype.
Image credit: fbr.com.au
The Hadrian X, which was developed following the success of the company’s automated brick laying technology demonstrator, the Hadrian 105, is the next evolution in construction automation, with up to 1,000 standard brick equivalents per hour being delivered over a 30m boom from a single position on site.
According to the company, unlike the Hadrian 105, the Hadrian X will be road-capable, truck mounted machine with a folding 30 metre boom that will enable maximum mobility and minimum workforce footprint.
“The commencement of construction of the Hadrian X is another significant milestone for a team that is breaking new ground every day,” said Fastbrick CEO Mike Pivac.
“We are a frontier technology company, and we’re one step closer to bringing fully automated, end-to-end 3D printing brick construction into the mainstream. We’re very excited to be taking the world-first technology we proved with the Hadrian 105 demonstrator and manufacturing state-of-the-art machine using latest componentry.”
The Hadrian X will utilise a construction adhesive rather than traditional mortar to maximise the speed of the build and the strength and thermal efficiency of the finished structure, while at the same time minimising the impact of weather condition in the construction process.
It will also be able to handle different brick sizes, and will complete all of the cutting, grinding, milling and routing of the bricks prior to laying, so that the structure is ready for first fixing immediately after the machine moves offsite.
“Fastbrick’s add-on for the widely used SOLIDWORKS ™ 3D CAD software, called The Architectural Designer, or TAD, is a powerful tool that drives the capabilities of the Hadrian X,” the company said in a press release.
“The accuracy achieved by the Hadrian X in building from a 3D CAD file will provide significant time and cost savings, by allowing other trades to manufacture components of the new structure in parallel with the bricklaying, rather than having to wait to measure the brickwork.”
FBR said that Hadrian X, to be constructed by its specialist engineering team at the Perth workshop, has already attracted significant commercial interest from major construction companies and machine manufacturers across the world.
