POW. Robotics and 3-D Taking Over the Building Industry?

For this project, the builders used 8 workers on the site instead of 160, and completed it in almost 1/3 the time (3 months instead of 8 months). Without the mistakes that humans tend to make.

In industry, these kinds of incredible savings translate to HUUUGE profits. The main hold-up was now-out-dated ‘leftist’ ideas of “social justice.”

"Robotic construction and 3D printing are the future" says Wolf D Prix

Combining robotic fabrication with 3D printing offers "amazing" opportunities for architecture…

…Austrian architect (Prix) is pioneering the use of robots at one of his latest projects – the Museum of Contemporary Art and Planning Exhibition (MOCAPE) in Shenzhen.

…..A team of robots will assemble the museum's irregularly curved stainless-steel centre, saving time and money. Led by a building information modelling (BIM) system, they will mould, assemble, weld and polish the hyperbolic metal plates.

… “Normally this part of the building would take eight months with 160 workers on the site,” said Prix. “Now we need eight workers on site, and it takes 12 weeks.”

… “Using robots, we can construct buildings in a very short time and very economically,” he said. …..

As in other sectors, building industry leaders have been “sensitive” to the potential social problems created by displaced workers and committed to re-training soon-to-be obsolete humans, said Prix.

Still, job opportunities are somewhat limited when 160 human workers are replaced by only 8 people.

…in Austria the building industry is an indicator of economic growth. If Austria has to fire workers on the site, it will create great social problems. So what we are doing right now, we are working on research programmes, to avoid social problems that could be caused by using robots. People should not lose their jobs. We have to train them in another way and teach them to understand and handle complex solutions. I think this is the next step in changing the building industry. It is a very complicated problem but we have to solve it, otherwise we will get big problems. And this is the right strategy: solving problems before problems become problems, and this is our architectural strategy too.

No, I do not advocate Ludditism. I tend to favor the UBI solution, aka Social Security for All, as a realistic way to deal with the massive unemployment on the horizon due to the rise of automation.




Project Status:

2016. MOCAPE museum by coop himmelb(l)au nears completion in shenzhen

Completed

With this combination of state of the art technological components, a compact building volume, thermal insulation and efficient sun shading the MOCAPE is not only an architectural landmark but also an ecological and environmentally friendly benchmark project.

I was listening to the CBC yesterday and the topic was robotics replacing the workforce.
very informative program and the timeline that most company's visualize down sizing their human work force is literally just around the corner.

One company in particular AT and T, has recognized this and to assist their employees in training for future jobs - committed $8000 USD to each employee, each year, for specialized training of the employees choice.
Thats amazing on AT and T's part. Not often do you see a company willing to invest so much into their people on a year basis.

At my job, if there is a course or special training that I would like to attend, or even a conference, I just have to submit a purchase req and will get it.
But not all employers are willing to do that, due to financial constraints.

I think its a very proactive and responsible approach for these companies going out of their way to help prepare the workforce for the soon to be future.

Europe and Germany, in particular, have been incorporating more and more automation into their fabrication for quite some time. Their labor rate is so high that automation makes sense. I'd say on average, a German company making building components has half the labor force of a similar North American company. This is not new.

a reply to: cosmania

True, the tech isn't new, nor is it's use in industry.

What's new is the degree of penetration - and the sudden acceleration of said use.

…..A team of robots will assemble the museum's irregularly curved stainless-steel centre, saving time and money. Led by a building information modeling (BIM) system, they will mould, assemble, weld and polish the hyperbolic metal plates.

Shining city on the hill, all robotic.

The ore for the metal will be mined by machines, transported to the mill by trucks, reduced and refined in a factory, machined and shaped by another factory, transported to the site in trucks, lifted by cranes, and assembled on site, probably with more machines.

All controlled or monitored by humans.

Edit: Lol, this duplicate thread was produced by a robot too, beep, bloop...

Just from my 30 years in construction, it would take more than 8 months and 160 guys to build that building. maybe they got the picture photoshopped in 3 months with 8 guys but not that building

Not sure exactly what they are talking about, havent read the links yet...

From start to finish... somebody envisions the building... hires architects and engineers... realtors and lawyers to procure the land... zoning officials bla bla bla....

Bring in the surveyors.... several weeks probably....
Bring in the earth moving equipment.... several weeks
Bring in underground plumbing and electrical... several weeks
Bring in dirt to cover underground... 1 day
lay plastic moisture barrier and re rod... 2 to 4 days
concrete trucks to pour the floor.... several days pouring and several more to cure

That is just a summary to get ready to start... You think the same 8 guys that put in the windows also put in the elevators??? I hope not.

Or are the elevators 3-d printed also....

a reply to: tinner07

The world is changing - rapidly and dramatically. In the construction industry along with everywhere else. But the bit about " the builders used 8 workers on the site instead of 160, and completed it in almost 1/3 the time (3 months instead of 8 months)" - refers to a 'project-within-a-project.'

Watch for more builds using robotics and 3-D, like this one, using 90 human workers instead of the usual 2,000 on site:

The building is constructed around a central core; each floor is composed of individual pie-like sections that are pre-built and hoisted up the central core. The builder claims that rotating skyscrapers can be constructed by just ninety people on the construction site; compare this to the typical skyscraper construction site, which may have up to 2,000 workers at a time.

POW. Robotics and Automation Get the Project Built

In the nearish future, a honest discussion on what level of socialism will be required to sustain a population that is ultimately just a creative force and no longer able to work in any manual or mathmatical position.

The story behind the history of Dune.
Automation is great overall I think, as it is pushing out species into a more information species instead of effort..but the transition can be ugly

a reply to: SaturnFX

..but the transition can be ugly

Doesn't have to be if we pull our heads out of the sand and start taking control of our own destinies.

Yet the building is not really a building. It's a steel shell. I bet robots did not dig the foundation and fabricate all the components, lay the lines and do all the work that involves a brain. If it's just about bolting stuff together then that's no big shakes really. Robots have been doing that for years, and the difference between a car and a steel building is just one of scale.

I would like to see robots building a real house. That is with wood, bricks and mortar. I would like to see a robot making decsions about what to do when things don't quite fit, or it's raining and muddy.

originally posted by: paraphi
Yet the building is not really a building. It's a steel shell.

It's an amazing building! A complex, really. Check out the links.

I bet robots did not dig the foundation and fabricate all the components, lay the lines and do all the work that involves a brain. If it's just about bolting stuff together then that's no big shakes really. Robots have been doing that for years, and the difference between a car and a steel building is just one of scale.

I would like to see robots building a real house. That is with wood, bricks and mortar. I would like to see a robot making decsions about what to do when things don't quite fit, or it's raining and muddy.

Denial. Not da rivah, eida.

We're still looking at a future where robots can replace 152 out of 160 human workers, and 1,910 out 2,000. For example.

Not necessarily a bad thing, if we get on it and make sure we get what we want. But no way can we stop the process.

a reply to: intrptr

Edit: Lol, this duplicate thread was produced by a robot too, beep, bloop...

Erm, no.

Nope, I'm Not a Bot Pushing Leftist BS - Trying to Create a "V-Book”

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: intrptr

Edit: Lol, this duplicate thread was produced by a robot too, beep, bloop...

Erm, no.

Nope, I'm Not a Bot Pushing Leftist BS - Trying to Create a "V-Book”

Oh, I meant the sites 'robosoftware' did that, 'by mistake'.

a reply to: SaturnFX

The story behind the history of Dune.

Frank Herberts inspiration for Dune borrows heavily from Islam, the deserts of the Middle East, tradition and culture.

I prefer the scenario presented in Elysium, or way back, Metropolis. The elite are removed from the day to day struggles of the masses, unaffected by their 'problems', ruling from the tops of skyscrapers, flying over their heads in private aircraft. Safe from revolt, disease, hunger. (kind of like today)

Who cares what happens to the Proles.

This has got to be the crappiest time in human history. Why couldn't I have been about 200 years later when We are out exploring the solar system?

originally posted by: jkm1864
This has got to be the crappiest time in human history. Why couldn't I have been about 200 years later when We are out exploring the solar system?

Be careful what you wish for.

Space Leaves Astronauts Partially Blind