12-ton robot can automatically build stone walls

Swiss Robot HEAP uses advanced technology to scan, sort rocks and recycled materials, then automatically build walls.

The HEAP robot builds a self-standing wall from recycled concrete and gneiss. Photo: Michael Lyrenmann/Science Robotics

A team led by Ryan Luke Johns, an expert at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), has developed a 12-ton autonomous robot that can build stone walls from natural and recycled materials. The new research was published in the journal Science Robotics on November 22.

The robot, called the Hydraulic Excavator for Automation (HEAP), uses advanced technologies such as LiDAR (laser-based remote sensing), image segmentation and planning algorithms. It can scan, classify and stack stone and concrete blocks in an efficient and environmentally friendly way.

The new robot was tested at two sites. It was able to build a 10-meter-long self-standing wall and a 65-meter-long earth retaining wall, using only materials available at the sites. The robot also created a 3D digital archive of the materials, making it easy to reuse and recycle them when the wall is no longer needed.

The research team said HEAP could help address the challenges facing the construction industry, which accounts for more than 10% of the world ’s GDP but is plagued by low productivity, high waste, and labor shortages. By using robots to build with recycled, natural, locally available materials and low energy consumption, the industry could reduce its environmental impact, increase efficiency, and increase sustainability.

The team also claims that HEAP reduces CO2 emissions by up to 41% compared to building a traditional reinforced concrete wall. They say the new robot is proof of a future of robotic construction, where machines can work autonomously and coordinate with each other to create flexible, adaptable structures.

Thu Thao (According to Interesting Engineering )

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