Robotic technology developer FBR Limited’s first next-generation Hadrian X robot has achieved a lay speed record of over 300 blocks per hour using USA format cement masonry blocks.
The latest record significantly surpasses the highest ever recorded peak lay speed of the robot’s predecessor, the Hadrian 109, FBR said in an ASX announcement.
The company conducted the testing and calibration program to demonstrate the commercial potential of FBR’s robotic construction technology.
The current demonstrated lay rates equate to over 70 vertical square metres of wall per hour if using the largest format blocks the Hadrian X is designed to handle.
“In our testing and calibration program, we are using the most commonly used cement masonry blocks in the world. However, using larger format and readily available blocks at the rates we have demonstrated to date, means we could robotically lay, on-site, the walls of a standard double brick house in a single day,” said Mike Pivac, managing director and chief executive officer of FBR.
The new lay speed record is expected to be surpassed as the testing and calibration program progresses. The company also plans to conduct outdoor build activities at FBR facilities in the coming months, after which the next-generation Hadrian X will be available for commercial work.
“With the labour constraints being experienced in the construction industry globally, and the ability to significantly reduce overall construction times and costs, we are on track to deliver a compelling efficiency gain to the industry while keeping clay, AAC and cement masonry blocks as the fastest, cheapest and most durable wall production materials into the future. We are very much on track to achieve our goal, which is that the Hadrian will be the fastest, cheapest, safest and lowest waste way to erect low-rise structural wall anywhere in the world,” Pivac said.
