Publications / 2004 Proceedings of the 21st ISARC, Jeju, South Korea

Procedure for the Implementation of Autonomous Mobile Robots on the Construction Site

Thomas Bock
Abstract:

The implementation of industrial robots in construction industry has proven to be difficult. The problem is not the technique but rather the difficulties in mixing human and robot labour in the dynamic, unstructured environment on site. Both systems need their specific basic conditions, which are impossible to provide on the construction site at the same time.

Now, on account of this, a new procedure for an extensively automated interior finishing work should be described:

Based on a recently developed autonomous mobile robot for drilling and mounting in con-crete ceilings, a family of robots was identified to provide at least 80 percent of interior works: Three working units, which are modular designed, have different purposes: 1.Transport the elements from the remote store to the place of assembly. 2.Drill and prepare connections in the building shell. 3.Position and assemble the prefabricated building-elements.

An appropriate procedure was described and simulated by the example of an office building construction. Calculations were compared with conventional building methods to estimate the system’s effectiveness.

Keywords: Assembly Robots, (On Site-) Automation, Autonomous, Man/Machine Sys-tems, Process Automation, Simulation