As the skilled labor shortage persists and the COVID-19 pandemic increases economic uncertainty, robotics are becoming more valuable than ever for certain types of projects – particularly those involving basic, repetitive work such as excavating and grading.

Even before shutdowns took place across the country, Mortenson was looking for every possible way to stretch the productivity of its workforce. To that end, the Minneapolis-based contractor last summer inked a deal to deploy autonomous heavy machinery in cooperation with Built Robotics, a Silicon Valley startup.

Since 2019, Mortenson has been utilizing autonomous excavators and bulldozers on a host of renewable energy construction sites around the U.S.

“When you think about a wind farm, you can have 100-plus square miles of land,” said Derek Smith, lean innovation manager for Mortenson’s Civil Group. “We’re building roads, putting in turbine foundations and collection trenches, for example. These jobs are in very remote areas that are a couple of hours away or more from major cities, so getting people there is a challenge.”

Built Robotics builds artificial intelligence guidance systems that upgrade common construction machinery – bulldozers, excavators and skid-steer loaders – into fully-autonomous robots. The proprietary software employs multilayer safety systems to operate within a predetermined geo-fence using augmented GPS, video and other sensors to safely operate. The equipment can be programmed to perform earthmoving work with precision as long as there is fuel in the tank. Progress is easily monitored via an iPad or similar device, and the machines can even be reprogrammed on the fly.

In less than a year, Mortenson has used these robots on five projects in four states. The first was a solar project in California, and then wind farms in Colorado, Kansas and Arizona followed. This could spread to Oregon in the future, where Portland General Electric and other utilities have sought to expand use of renewable energy.

“These newer technologies like robots are really well suited to this type of infrastructure work,” said Erol Ahmed, director of communications for Built Robotics. “We build AI guidance systems in a self-contained unit that sits on top of the machine. It houses the computer tech, and we install these to upgrade existing equipment.”

The robotics kits can be used on almost any piece of existing equipment. They feature high-definition cameras, IMU sensors and GPS-based units that all work together. Plus, the machinery can still be used manually, if necessary.

“It’s a lot easier and less capital than a new machine,” Ahmed said.

A company that owns excavators and other machinery only needs to attach the proper hardware and install software, Smith said.

“It can operate 24 hours a day,” he said. “You’re not limited by shifts, and as long as you have fuel and maintenance, it can run 24-7.”

Also, use of autonomous machinery can reduce the number of on-the-job injuries among workers, which is especially important at isolated sites.

An average wind project can require excavation for more than 100 foundations. Use of robots to help shoulder the load can be quite advantageous, Smith said.

“The idea is we have an operator digging a hole more than a hundred times, and can instead use robotic equipment being able to help accomplish that,” he said. “We can set a robot loose on a lot of these tasks that are very repetitive. Meanwhile, we can better leverage our operator skills for the finer, more complicated fine grading work.

“Robots are a tool to make life easier for our people. We think it’s important to train our people in the latest advanced technology so they are well-equipped for the construction projects of the future.”

Mortenson crews that have worked with autonomous equipment have been enthusiastic adopters of the new technology, Smith said. The firm plans to slowly introduce robotics into other aspects of its operations, he added, in part to allay fears that this will be done at the expense of skilled jobs.

“I’ve met with a lot of operators and there’s a lot of excitement,” Smith said. “They always want to get their hands on what’s new, especially when it comes to yellow iron.”

Built Robotics also has signed an agreement with the International Union of Operating Engineers to bring the autonomous technology to union training centers around the U.S., Ahmed said. The first will be one in Crosby, Texas, he said.

“It’s a story in that the union and the tech companies are working together to get this technology into the field,” he said.

Smith predicts robots and autonomous tools will become increasingly common on construction sites in the future.

“From the civil aspect, some of the other things we’re looking into are autonomous survey tools, where we can collect better spatial data for our survey and VDC (virtual design and construction) teams,” he said. “This data can be analyzed more efficiently.”

Existing excavation equipment, Smith added, is likely to be used for trench work as well as foundation excavation.

“There’s a lot of room there for growth,” he said.

Editor’s note: Changes have been made to state correctly how Built Robotics’ software works as well as state correctly what Erol Ahmed said about AI guidance systems.

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Combine a longtime shortage of skilled workers with advancements in robotics technology, and construction firms may be poised to change how they do business altogether.

Since the end of World War II, construction has consistently proved to be one of the industries least amenable to an increasingly digitized world. But that is now starting to change and momentum is growing.

Take the work of Built Robotics, a San Francisco startup that is aiming to put autonomous excavating machines in the hands of construction crews.

Or consider Tend.ai, a Bend firm that specializes in writing custom software for robots. Whether it’s an assembly line robot or a bricklaying, semi-autonomous mason (SAM) robot, Tend.ai is able to write code instructing them exactly what task to take on.

In just a few years there may be a robot for many of the construction jobs now largely performed by humans. There are plenty of existing examples and more in the works each day.

“It’s a painful transition if you’re in an industry that’s dying or becoming more automated,” Tend.ai President Steve Sickler said. “But the reality is, yeah, the robots are being brought in because there aren’t enough workers. Being a robot engineer is about one of the hottest positions you can have right now.”

Kelly Dillon, Built Robotics’ head of people operations, agreed.

“Our technology addresses some of the core issues facing construction – the labor shortages, efficiency and safety,” he said. “Our autonomous track loader can do the more dangerous or repetitive aspects of the job, enabling skilled operators to focus on the challenging tasks, and letting contractors complete more work and get more done.”

The rapid development of robots and related technology in the construction industry is an outgrowth both of natural technological advances as well as an ongoing shortage of skilled workers in fields including masonry, framing, excavating and demolition.

“It’s not going to go backwards, I feel,” said Peter Bigwood, vice president of marketing and sales for Brokk Inc., a Swedish company with North American headquarters in Monroe, Washington. The company, among many things, manufactures a line of remotely controlled robotic demolition machines.

“Looking at metal processing applications and the cleaning out of metal holds,” Bigwood said, “and the way it used to be done was with guys in the hold with hand tools scraping off the walls. Now, do you want your children doing that? No, nobody wants to do that.”

Instead, he continued, it’s possible to deploy one of the company’s robots to do all the work safely and cleanly.

“You operate it remotely with cameras, close the hold, and it’s confined completely,” he said.

While Tend.ai doesn’t manufacture robots directly, its software will allow future groups of robots to communicate as they work together to solve problems and complete tasks.

“Our vision is to be kind of robot agnostic,” Sickler explained. “Construction is probably a little different, because you have your bricklayers and drones, and eventually they want self-driving bulldozers. So, our vision is to be a platform. Every manufacturer now is writing software so their robots can communicate, but it’s proprietary. It’s the way computers were in the 1960s and ’70s.”

Tend.ai’s software addresses three specific areas. One software monitors a robot or groups of robots for potential problems and alerts their users if and when any issues arise. Another monitors peripheral devices around the robot user. Finally, another software monitors robots and alerts users to predictive maintenance issues that need to be addressed.

Such tasks apply directly to the construction field, where the continuing and consistent function of tools, robotic or otherwise, is crucial to the bottom line of contractors.

For Built Robotics, there’s no stretch needed. The San Francisco startup is looking to build a line of autonomous excavators capable of traversing a complex construction site safely.

“We use existing equipment and off-the-shelf LiDAR and sensors,” Dillon said. “We’ve built software that allows the equipment to run autonomously. We chose the Bobcat Skid Steer as our first piece of equipment because of its versatility. We can easily add different attachments, a combo bucket, dozer blade, trencher, etcetera, to complete a variety of tasks on the job site.”

Built Robotics is seeking to compete against much larger and established companies such as Caterpillar, which has already introduced a line of excavating machines that use “assist” technology to help human operators work more accurately on a job site.

“For us, on construction sites, it’s more about our machines themselves and how we connect the machines,” Caterpillar Senior Public Affairs Manager Jamie Fox stated via email. “We kind of look at our machines as robots. For example, our excavators have many assist technologies; they aren’t fully autonomous yet, but have things like grade assist to make digging a basement, for example, extremely accurate and much easier.”

Networking Caterpillar machines so that they all communicate with each other is another looming technology for the company, which also has signed a memorandum of understanding with Australian firm Fastbrick to introduce the latter’s autonomous bricklaying robots into the North American market.

“If the machines can talk to each other, efficiencies can be gained there as well,” Fox said.

Then there’s Brokk, which may specialize in deconstruction of old buildings, but has the same aims as industry counterparts engaged in creating machines that build.

“We’ve been preaching this for a number of years,” Bigwood said. “It’s very much the case that – worldwide – tunneling companies are another one, steel and foundries are looking for this sort of technology, getting their guys away from the heat and molten metal and making sure production continues, and in construction.”

When it comes to dangerous demolition tasks, Bigwood said, his company has taken to calling them “Brokk jobs.”

“There are certain things you just wouldn’t want to do any other way,” he said. “But what we’re finding is that there are more things where people are willing to say, ‘Let’s rethink this and maybe we should be doing this a different way.’”

These companies are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Others following the same path include United Arab Emirates-based Cazza, which is diving into the promising world of building using 3-D printing, and Baltimore’s Blueprint Robotics and its use of robotics to build pre-fabricated wooden walls, roofs and other building components. There’s New York-based Construction Robotics, which makes a bricklaying robot capable of putting down masonry at a rate five times faster than a skilled human, and there is San Francisco-based startup Cooper Gray Robotics, which is trying to market the first remotely operated electric bucket loader.

Zmation Inc., a Portland company, for years has made automation software and tools for industrial technologies, including a remotely controlled benchtop TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding system.

Amid a shortage of skilled workers in welding and other trades, it is reasonable to expect the growth of automated machines to continue.

“In the old days, when we head an opening for a dozen new linemen to work on the grid, we’d have people snaking around the block,” Bigwood said. “Now, we’re lucky to get a dozen people, and 10 of them fail the drug test. We are not a notoriously forward-thinking industry, but we have to be now.”

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