In this video SAM, short for Semi-Automated Mason, the bricklaying robotic assistant of the future, struts its stuff.
Developed by Construction Robotics, a small business funded by the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research program, SAM works alongside masons to install bricks, making the humans’ jobs less backbreaking. The technology is designed to increase productivity and reduce heavy-lifting burdens on construction crews. Masons set SAM up and work alongside it, continuing to apply their knowledge and skills while letting the robot handle the repetition and physical aspects of the work.
For commercial property investors, one would assume technology like this would serve to decrease construction costs by compressing the labor cost component of the work. This is not what bricklayers want to hear, of course, but anyone considering future construction would surely be pleased by developments like this.