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Where are the robotic bricklayers?

constructionphysics.substack.com

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Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#21

Post by yarg »

robotresearcher wrote: post #17
yarg wrote: post #8

There's no need for robotic brick layers - it's requires significantly less dexterity to just 3D print a house, and it allows for shapes and contours that are simply impossible to construct from bricks.

And yet, almost no houses at all are 3D printed. People are very good at bricklaying, and are paid a reasonable rate by the hour. No one has made a machine that can beat that feature set. edit: more great features of human brickies that robots are terrible at: very small working volume; very small and agile footprint; safe for other humans to work near; half-day built-in power supply.

Which is still infinitely more than 30 years ago.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#23

Post by dalbasal »

Great read.

This kind of reminds me of auto manufacturing. It's almost unintuitive how difficult, expensive & error prone paneling is. Also painting. Stamping out panels, painting and installing them is a very hard job to do with robotics. Most of the space, treasure and expertise invested into an auto factory is panel related. The "possible, but perpetually difficult" space can be a deep valley for robotics, it seems.

...And bricklaying, while conspicuous and important, is still just one job in construction.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#25

Post by robotresearcher »

MattGaiser wrote: post #11
yarg wrote: post #8

There's no need for robotic brick layers - it's requires significantly less dexterity to just 3D print a house, and it allows for shapes and contours that are simply impossible to construct from bricks.

Indeed. If you have heavy machinery available, why use bricks?

Bricks are good at demolition time, compared to poured concrete, and can be recycled. They also look kinda nice.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#26

Post by aaron695 »

glasss wrote: post #6

I recall finding the below blog post on HN not long ago which I think pairs well with this. https://austinvernon.eth.link/blog/construction.html

This should be required reading for probably anyone who votes.

This quote is my take away -

"Almost every advancement in construction is small enough for a man to carry"

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#27

Post by waynesonfire »

dalbasal wrote: post #23

Great read. This kind of reminds me of auto manufacturing. It's almost unintuitive how difficult, expensive & error prone paneling is. Also painting. Stamping out panels, painting and installing them is a very hard job to do with robotics. Most of the space, treasure and expertise invested into an auto factory is panel related. The "possible, but perpetually difficult" space can be a deep valley for robotics, it seem…

lol.. and we're talking about AI replacing humans next year so come get your basic income check.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#28

Post by egh »

The great contempt that computer people have for the skills that every human brings to the jobs that the do is always on display here. We haven't automated driving; we haven't automated picking tomatoes; we haven't automated bricklaying; we can't automate cooking a fucking hamburger. But they are completely convinced that it's just around the corner, because they are full of contempt for the skill and intelligence of ordinary people.

Frank Bardacke in his book, _Trampling out the Vintage_ describes the great skill that agriculture workers bring to the job that they do, from knowing whether something is ripe enough to pick to the dexterity required to pick it without destroying the fragile fruit or vegetable. Some jobs have been automated, but many more have not and most likely never will be.

Please, learn some humility and try to understand the skills that every human possesses and that they bring to their work.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#29

Post by pradeep_m »

egh wrote: post #28

The great contempt that computer people have for the skills that every human brings to the jobs that the do is always on display here. We haven't automated driving; we haven't automated picking tomatoes; we haven't automated bricklaying; we can't automate cooking a fucking hamburger. But they are completely convinced that it's just around the corner, because they are full of contempt for the skill and intelligence of…

I think this is a rather harsh take. Most of the people working on automating it understand how hard it is and are striving through it. You need some of these irrational believers for progress!
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