SAM: Bricklaying Robotic Assistant

Meet SAM, short for Semi-Automated Mason, the bricklaying robotic assistant of the future. SAM was 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. It is designed to increase productivity and reduce heavy-lifting burdens on construction crews. Masons set SAM up and work alongside it, continuing to use their knowledge and skills while letting the robot handle the repetition and physical labor.

Transcript

00:00:03 SCOTT L. PETERS: So our system is called SAM for Semi Automated Mason and it's been developed by our company, Construction Robotics. The SAM system is working alongside masons helping them install brick. They can handle a wide variety of bricks that are used out there in construction; primarily for veneer, commercial construction, most of your institutions, your schools. It's really designed to help your commercial masonry contractors increase their productivity and help reduce some of the heavy lifting from the mason. The mason still works alongside SAMs. They are still responsible for setting SAM up.

00:00:36 They're still responsible for striking the joints and ensuring the best wall quality and using some of the knowledge and the skills that they have but they don't have to have the physical demand on their body that they might previously. That can help even some of the older masons work alongside SAM and not have to lift and place every brick. And we're successful here and we can bring robotics and automation into the industry if we can help construction as a whole be more successful. That's really going to ultimately help the U.S. economy and even help jobs in to the U.S. We can help provide a very interesting

00:01:06 dynamic aspect to the construction process where you're using robotics and construction at the same time, and you can really help attract young talent into the industry. NSF's been an instrumental part of our work. It's really been what enabled to us to go after and develop a high risk technology like this. Bringing robotics and automation into the construction industry is a challenge on multiple fronts, one from both the technology side but also on the business and implementation side and I think the ability for NSF to come in and support that has been really what enabled

00:01:39 us to be able to pursue this technology and enter this industry.