The construction site of the future is already here as homes, office buildings and industrial sites go up around the country. Robots that can lay bricks, put up drywall and tie rebar are pitching in at a time when the construction industry is in major flux.

About a year ago, we started getting reports from the field about undesirable behavior when our robots were turned on. On rare occasions, they would behave unpredictably. Our engineering and CS team investigated all such reports to try to discover the root cause.

Robotics took center stage at Swinerton, which last year became the first construction company with fully trained in-house operators for Dusty Robotics, and was an early adopter of that supplier’s FieldPrinter on projects in California, Texas, and Virginia.

FieldPrinter’s developers designed the system to be a “drop-in replacement” for manual processes with minimal changes to construction workflows, said Tessa Lau, founder and CEO of Dusty Robotics. “We take artifacts that design teams are already producing and bring them out into the field.”

Feed Dusty a BIM model and it will draw a floor plan on top of a concrete slab. Construction workers will know exactly where to put walls, doors, fixtures, equipment, etc. Anything Dusty recognizes from the BIM model can be printed on concrete to an accuracy of 1/16”. There is no measuring, no guesswork, no chalk lines.

“Imitation is the best form of flattery,” Lau said. “We have been in production since early 2020, and this move by HP is validation for us. The mission we have before us is to prepare contractors for increased productivity and automation. This is a huge opportunity, and there is room for multiple players.”

Who’s building the best and boldest applications of automation to reduce business complexity? In the new series “The United States of Automation,” Kiran Chetry goes in search of the robots, cobots, and creative thinkers taking advantage of state-of-the-art connectivity to reach peak automation.

The Mountain View, California-based construction robotics company closed a $45 million Series B round, Dusty Robotics . The round was led by Scale Venture Partners and joined by returning investors Baseline Ventures, Canaan Partners, Root Ventures and more.

Dusty Robotics robot lays out the site quickly and accurately within 1/16" tolerance. Real-time digital records are uploaded to the cloud, closing the loop between the model and the field.

Another sizable funding round for Dusty Robotics this month. The Bay Area firm announced a $45 million Series B. The round, led by Scale Venture Partners, is a quick follow-up to last June’s $16.5 million Series A, bringing its total funding up to around $69 million, and valuing it at $250 million.

Mountain View, Calif.-based construction robotic solutions provider Dusty Robotics announced May 10 that it has closed a $45 million Series B round, bringing total funding for its FieldPrinter robotic layout robot to $68.7 million.

Dusty Robotics built an autonomous printer on wheels for construction sites. The company is now worth $250 million. When Tessa Lau was remodeling her home, she watched her contractor get down on his hands and knees with handheld tools to do the work...

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become unavoidable for most industries, with construction being no exception. Construction is growing at a rapid pace as digitalisation continues and AI stands to deliver a number of advantages to the industry.

Robotic layout has been a dream, promising workers less hardship on the knees and joints, greater precision, faster timelines, and even exact as-builts at the end of construction. Everyone from layout crews to clients stands to benefit. So, for the past three months...

Dusty Robotics is making construction easier, one floor plan at a time. Its FieldPrinter robots autonomously paint floor plans at construction sites. This saves workers hours and ensures accurate placement of walls and dividers...

"I'm used to being the only female or the only female person of color in the room... I don't let it faze me," Lau said. "What I find in construction is that if you have a reason to be there, you can stand your ground and have a seat at the table."

Robotic layout has been a dream, promising workers less hardship on the knees and joints, greater precision, faster timelines, and even exact as-builts at the end of construction. Everyone from layout crews to clients stands to benefit. So, for the past three months...

How will robotics impact construction? One answer is by choosing tasks that are narrow, useful and loaded with details - like drawing layouts. Dusty Robotics chose this starting point because it is perfect for a robot - Tessa Lau, CEO of Dusty, explains why, and how the team chose layouts. Tessa's explanation of their decision process is a masterclass in what robots...

That accuracy is key, Pearl said. The layout is already a labor intensive process, requiring moving and bending over, which can cause strain. On top of that, a small, understandable bit of human error can have "devastating" effects down the line.

“Layout is a perfect opportunity for a robotic solution,” said Tessa Lau, founder and CEO of Dusty Robotics. “If mistakes are made in layout, it can have huge effects on cost and schedule. It’s also a time-intensive task. Those risks can be addressed with the right application of robotic technology.”

‍Dusty Robotics develops robot-powered tools for the modern construction workforce. With construction increasingly going digital, there remains a digital divide between the work done in the design and preconstruction phases and the work done in the field. Dusty’s FieldPrinter automated layout robot bridges this gap, bringing fully detailed digital models out to the field.

Dusty develop robot-powered tools for the modern construction workforce. Their FieldPrinter eliminates manual work to quickly and accurately print BIM/CAD designs in the field for faster and more accurate builds.

USA-based startupmakes robot-powered tools for marking architectural and structural boundaries. FieldPrinter is an advanced robotic platform that uses technology to autonomously navigate the job site. Using precise control systems, it draws straight lines with 1/16″ accuracy.

Today, Bay Area-based Dusty Robotics announced a $16.5 million Series A. Led by Canaan Partners and featuring NextGen Venture Partners, Baseline Ventures, Root Ventures and Cantos Ventures, the round brings the startup’s full funding up to $23.7 million.

Dusty’s FieldPrinter autonomous mobile robots prints layout plans directly onto the floors of job sites using information from building information models (BIM) as a guide. FieldPrinter also generates status reports in real-time so project managers monitor progress and make adjustments if needed.