The construction industry is routinely identified as one of the slowest to adopt technological advances. And yet, the need to rapidly construct new buildings for a growing urban population, counteract the aging of the workforce and high labor costs, and reduce on-site waste, all point toward the advantages of automating construction. Through a historical review, comprehensive cataloging of both conceptual and existing industrial robotic concepts and techniques, and a series of robust case studies, this research delves into the future of this promising field, identifying the incentives for, and obstacles to adoption by the construction industry.

Robots have been highly effective and advantageous at performing tasks that are repetitive, require high levels of precision, or are dangerous. While the size of the human workforce in the construction sector has declined, new jobs are being been created in the design, building and operation of such robots. Automation and robots have already been used in the construction of buildings across different heights, typologies, and complexities.

From simple automation to autonomous construction, from drone-based assembly to human-enhancing exoskeletons, the full range of possibilities—including government, private, and academic research, as well as real-world applications—is explored in detail.

Expert Advisers

Julian Leland Bell, UPS, Atlanta
Shajay Bhooshan, Zaha Hadid Architects, London
Christopher James Botham, Silverstein Properties, New York City
Ilkay Can-Standard, GenX Design & Technology Consulting, New York City
Niccolò Dambrosio, ICD University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart
Antonio Di Lallo, City University of New York, New York City
Nicolas Früh, ITKE Stuttgart University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart
Fabio Gramazio, ETH Zurich, Zurich
Mikkel Kragh, University of Southern Denmark, Odense
Zachary Mollica, Architectural Association, Beaminster
Roberto Naboni, CREATE, Milan
Kiyoaki Okasita, Shimizu Corporation, Tokyo
Alphonso Peluso, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago
Mehemet Sakin, GenX Design & Technology Consulting, Istanbul
Bharath Sankaran, Scaled Robotics, Barcelona
Jeremy Searock, Advanced Construction Robotics, Pittsburgh
Alvise Simondetti, Arup, London
Christian Studer, Schindler, Lucerne
Hao Su, City College of New York, New York City
Thomas Van Glabeke, MX3D, Amsterdam
Massimo Visonà, 3D WASP, Venice
Ramon Elias Weber, MIT, Cambridge