Publications / 1994 Proceedings of the 11th ISARC, Brighton, United Kingdom
Productivity is a key issue in the construction industry. It has been forecasted that the labour productivity of the Japanese construction industry should be increased twice in the year 2010, comparing with the present rate. Automation and robotics in next generation construction should try to improve not only productivity but also take the humanity into consideration and be harmless to the global environment. To realise automation and robotics in the construction industries, building elements are required to be pre-fabricated and the working space weather protected so that automated systems can be widely applied. This paper introduces some new ideas on the role of automation and robotics in next generation construction and discusses how automation and robotics could be applied.