Bricklaying robots are not looking to steal jobs but fill a labor shortage
A company's AI-powered robots can lay bricks
Monumental's bricklaying robots are like self-driving cars.
Imagine being a bricklayer.
Working all day in the hot sun, bending your back and knees with every brick, hands raw from mortar.
Not exactly a career on most young people's dream list.
That's where Monumental comes in with its robot bricklayers that might just save the construction industry and a spine or two in the process.
An AI-powered robot lays a brick. (Monumental)
How does the bricklaying robot work?
Monumental's bricklaying robots are agile, artificial intelligence-powered machines that navigate construction sites like self-driving cars. They work in teams of three. One grabs bricks, another fetches mortar and the third, the star of the show, lays them down with precision.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?
A bricklaying robot at a work site (Monumental)
It does this with two tower cranes that allow it to lay bricks from the ground level up to the top of a building's ground floor. For higher floors, the robot is able to drive onto a scissor lift that raises it up.
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Then, the bricklayer robot deposits the mortar and lays the bricks autonomously. The process still needs a human mason for pointing, mortar smoothing and wall tie installation.
A bricklaying robot (Monumental)
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How much does the bricklaying robot cost?
Monumental’s robots are much more affordable than conventional ones, costing only $25,000 per unit. But Monumental does not sell its robots; it sells its brick-laying services. It charges by the brick, just like human masons in Europe, and at a similar rate.
It also provides a human mason to supervise the robots and handle the tasks they cannot do. However, Monumental's bricklaying robots can work faster than humans by forming swarms, which is not feasible with the human labor shortage.
Bricklaying robot powered by artificial intelligence (Monumental)
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Are these bricklaying robots going to steal jobs?
Now, don't panic about these robots stealing jobs. These bricklayers are more like helpful assistants, filling a crucial gap in the labor market. With over half million construction worker vacancies in the U.S. alone, including a serious lack of skilled bricklayers, there's plenty of work to go around.
Bricklaying robot (Monumental)
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The startup behind the bricklaying robots
Monumental is a startup that wants to revolutionize the construction industry with its bricklaying robots. The company, based in Amsterdam, was founded by experienced entrepreneurs and AI experts who have been working secretly for two and a half years. Now, they are ready to unveil their solution — a fleet of robots that can work alongside humans, not against them, to build faster and smarter.
Kurt's key takeaways
Who knew robots could be such helpful construction workers?
While they might not be stealing anyone's job, they're definitely making bricklaying a whole lot easier on the back and the future of the industry. Let's not forget that there's still something special about a well-crafted brick wall built by human hands. These robots are here to help, not replace the craftsmanship of a human bricklayer.
So, what other jobs do you think could benefit from this kind of "robot assistant" approach? Are there any tasks you wouldn't want a robot to take over, no matter how efficient they might be? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact
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Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
