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Robotics

Hadrian X brick-laying robot ups the ante to 200 blocks an hour

By Nick Lavars
June 03, 2020
Hadrian X brick-laying robot ups the ante to 200 blocks an hour
The Hadrian robot was created by Australian firm Fastbrick Robotics (FBR) and is named after the UK’s Hadrian Wall
The Hadrian robot was created by Australian firm Fastbrick Robotics (FBR) and is named after the UK’s Hadrian Wall
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The Hadrain X robot features a telescopic boom that mounts to an excavator or truck
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The Hadrain X robot features a telescopic boom that mounts to an excavator or truck
The Hadrian robot was created by Australian firm Fastbrick Robotics (FBR) and is named after the UK’s Hadrian Wall
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The Hadrian robot was created by Australian firm Fastbrick Robotics (FBR) and is named after the UK’s Hadrian Wall
The engineers behind the Hadrian X have continued making software improvements and have now announced a new brick-laying speed, which they say makes it commercially competitive with manual workers around the world
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The engineers behind the Hadrian X have continued making software improvements and have now announced a new brick-laying speed, which they say makes it commercially competitive with manual workers around the world
View gallery - 3 images

Back in 2015 we looked at an interesting approach to automated construction in the form of a brick-laying robot, capable of putting together full-sized homes in just two days. The engineers behind the Hadrian X have continued making software improvements and have now announced a new record brick-laying speed, which they say makes the robot commercially competitive with manual workers around much of the world.

The Hadrian X robot was created by Australian firm Fastbrick Robotics (FBR) and is named after the UK’s Hadrian Wall. It features a telescopic boom that mounts to an excavator or truck, which is fed a 3D CAD model of a house and goes about placing bricks along with mortar and adhesive to build out the structure.

While the team has concept demonstrator robots designed to one day achieve laying rates of more than 1,000 bricks an hour, on the practical side things have been a little more slow-going. Software upgrades to the Hadrian X have seen it go from laying around 85 blocks an hour before the COVID-19 pandemic, to around 150 blocks an hour, and then onward to up over 200 blocks an hour.

This was demonstrated as a sustained laying rate during the process of a full house build, according to FBR, and puts the Hadrian X on course to compete with traditional bricklaying services.

The Hadrain X robot features a telescopic boom that mounts to an excavator or truck
The Hadrain X robot features a telescopic boom that mounts to an excavator or truck

“This is the first time that we have been able to prove the real commercial case of the Hadrian X in practice,” says FBR’s Managing Director & CEO, Mike Pivac. “When you consider that manual brick and block laying costs globally vary anywhere from AUD10 (US$6.90) per square meter to AUD100 (US$69) per square meter, we are already cost competitive across a broad range of the market at 200 blocks per hour. However, we are continuing to increase the lay speed and improve the Hadrian X and accordingly our cost of laying will continue to decrease while the market for the machines will grow significantly.”

FBR says it is now working to adapt these new bricklaying speeds to complex building designs, with a view to tackling projects for customers around the world.

You can see the Hadrian X go to work in the video below.

Hadrian X Breaks New Lay Speed Record | FBR

Source: Fastbrick Robotics

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RoboticsRobotic constructionBuilding and ConstructionNew Atlas Audio
6 comments
Nick Lavars
Nick Lavars
Nick has been writing and editing at New Atlas for over six years, where he has covered everything from distant space probes to self-driving cars to oddball animal science. He previously spent time at The Conversation, Mashable and The Santiago Times, earning a Masters degree in communications from Melbourne’s RMIT University along the way.

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6 comments
Thud
That's not layin blocks. There's no mortar!? That's the hard part of bricklaying.
Bricorn
It IS putting mortar under the blocks, but not between them, you can even see between them at one point (2:25-2:45 on the video)
Curtisrodgers
No need for mortar, or a leveling agent — FBR uses precision blocks and an adhesive.
BlueOak
Talk is cheap - that demo video shows air between the blocks. Why even bother with an empty demo?

And if adhesive rather than mortar is planned, has it been approved under the international building code?... and then will take years to filter down to local building codes.
Douglas Bennett Rogers
I recent years, I only see blocks in fencing and rural house foundations. I only see brick as upscale siding.
-dphiBbydt
Isn't the whole point of bricks and blocks that they are small enough for a human bricklayer to handle all day without undue stress? The idea of using a robot to stack blocks on top of one-another just seems like an exercise in robotic control rather than a sensible building technique. Better a robot be programmed to make pre-fabricated panels 24 hours a day to precise and repeatable specifications in a clean factory setting and then ship that the build site. Hauling a complicated robot to a dirty, exposed-to-the-elements building site and relying on it to build you a house seems risky.