Automation and Robotics in Construction, State of the Art in Japan

This paper reports on the current state of the art in automation and robotics Research and Development (R&D) activities in Japanese construction industry. At present, building constructions are activated and a shortage of construction workers has been serious in Japan. Accordingly, there has been a growing need for automation and robotization of construction operation to overcome this problem. R&D of construction robots are generally conducted by general contractors, however, the R&D was not in time to make the serious labor shortage relived. Various kinds of automated construction equipments have been developed for construction field application in such areas as concreting and finishing operation, however, they are not practical enough. Recent R&D is concentrated in more practical and overall system automatization using robotic technology. A turning point is coming in construction Automation and Robotics in Japan changing R&D policy from stand alone robot development to system integration combining advanced technologies.