Dusty Robotics's Field Printer Out In The Field

Tessa Lau
July 16, 2020

At Dusty, we believe that robotic automation is for everyone.


We’re designing a product -- a FieldPrinter that prints BIM/CAD models full size on the concrete deck -- that skilled construction workers will use to improve the quality of their work. To succeed in the construction industry, our FieldPrinter will need to be reliable, rugged, and easy to use.


Bringing such a product to market requires a lot of design and engineering -- similar to what goes into designing and constructing a complex building. However, designing a new robot also requires solving some fundamental problems that no one has ever solved before. Product design is an iterative process, with many experimental prototypes built along the way.

As we go, we’ve focused our attention on building a core set of features that’s needed for reliable, high-accuracy layout of walls on concrete. We’ve iterated through many different hardware and software releases, which have all come together in our second-generation platform, code-named “Amber”. While our product development is still ongoing, Amber has already proven reliable enough to lay out complete floors on job sites quickly and accurately.


This month, we’ve reached a significant milestone: we’ve transitioned the operation of our FieldPrinter away from our engineering team, who built the system, to our field team, who runs it out in the field. This past June, Amber and our field team completed a record amount of layout in the field: 8 full floors of layout, over 11 days and 7 projects.


Building out our Field Operations organization is the next stage of Dusty’s growth.  This stage of scaling brings its own set of challenges. How do we standardize communications and documentation so every customer gets the same high-quality experience? How do we optimize scheduling to service the most customers possible given a limited set of field crews? How should we package our services? We’re excited to be answering these questions in partnership with our visionary early adopters.


Demand for robotic layout is strong. Our customers are telling us that robotic layout automation is a no-brainer. If you are already designing your building in BIM, why rely on mistake-prone skilled labor to lay out that design in the field? We have a limited number of slots available next month, so reach out today to book a FieldPrinter demo on your job site!

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Tessa Lau
July 16, 2020
2 min read