Australian company FBR has set itself what is perhaps one of the greatest challenges of modern construction, on a par with achieving more sustainable concrete, “rethinking” bricks or giving more weight to old materials such as wood or stone. Its objective is nothing more or less than to change the way we place blocks in masonry walls, the same way that – the company assures – has remained more or less unchanged for millennia. To achieve this, it has created a surprising robot that aims to handle 500 blocks every hour and build the exterior and interior walls of a house in just one day.
For now, he has already given us some examples of what he can achieve.
Hadrian X, they call himWe first talked about the plans and technology developed by FBR —formerly Fastbrick Robotics Limited— a few years ago, but since then its creators have continued to refine it and provide demonstrations of its capabilities. One of the latest is the construction of 16 terraced houses in Willagee, a suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia.
Its biggest asset is Hadrian X, a construction robot designed to place blocks outdoors at lightning speed. FBR claims that its technology is pioneering and that it has spent years working on it until achieving its current design.
And what is the robot like? A truck with a large, 32-metre telescopic arm, which, according to its makers, allows the Hadrian X “new generation” to raise three-storey-high walls from the edge of a road. This is not the only information provided by FBR. The company says it has designed the robot to be able to place up to 500 blocks per hour – equivalent to about 120 m2 – and complete the external and internal walls of a “standard double-brick house” in a single day.
“It is designed to lay commercially available blocks, as well as those that are not yet available, including large bricks measuring up to 600mm x 400mm x 300mm and weighing up to 45kg,” says the Australian company, based in Perth. Its modular saw design also allows it to make different height cuts and during its work it uses a special adhesive that replaces mortar, a change that, it says, makes the walls more resistant.
From theory… Back to the construction site, where Hadrian X has already demonstrated its capabilities and the records it has achieved in the field. In May, the company announced the completion of a house made up of some 4,300 concrete masonry units, in September it reported on a project with 16 semi-detached houses and just a few weeks ago it claimed to have completed a structure with large-format blocks at a rate of more than 240 pieces per hour. The Sentiment He goes further and details that this would be the average speed and in reality it reached a much higher rate, of 326 blocks per hour.
What is your goal? Changing the way we lay bricks, the same way, the company claims, that has remained more or less unchanged over the past millennia. Nothing more, nothing less. “Hadrian X is the world’s first mobile robotic block-laying machine and system, capable of working safely outdoors in uncontrolled environments with speed and precision,” it adds. To do so, it uses a 3D CAD model and a process that, according to FBR, generates less waste than traditional methods.
In order to make the process more efficient, the company applies a software optimization system that is responsible for translating the sketches into practice. “It minimizes the handling and waste of block products to improve the efficiency of residential construction.” This is not the only resource that FBR boasts, which recalls that its robot incorporates dynamic stabilization technology (DST). With this presentation sheet, it is already looking with interest at the US market.
Images | FBR
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*A previous version of this article was published in October 2023