Is robotic bricklaying key to Euro housing problem?

Australian technology firm FBR has announced it’s Hadrian X robot has completed work on a housing structure, using Porotherm clay blocks from Austrian materials producer Wienerberger.

A European-style house structure recently completed by FBR’s Hadrian X robot

The structure, which was built in a European housing style, with 5m-high gable ends, was constructed using Wienerberger’s largest blocks, each equivalent to 12 standard house bricks.

The robot used the largest double-leaf blocks for the external walls of the structure and single-leaf blocks for the internal walls, as well as working with Wienerberger’s own adhesive products.

The pilot project was originally planned to take place in Europe, travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic shifted plans to a specially-constructed outdoor test slab at FBR’s facility in Australia.

The Hadrian X bricklaying robot

Both FBR and Wienerberger are now in talks to undertake a Europe-based test, when circumstances allow, with a view to establishing the process within Europe’s low-rise housing market, which is currently running at around 700,000 properties a year.

The Hadrian X robot uses dynamic stabilisation technology (DST), a system that counteracts external environmental conditions, to keep the end effector in position for highly accurate block-laying.

FBR’s managing director & CEO, Mike Pivac, said, “We are very pleased to be progressing our relationship with Wienerberger, the largest producer of clay blocks in the world.

“Both parties are committed to advancing robotic construction together and improving the efficiency, sustainability and digitalisation of the construction industry.”