The construction industry is using artificial intelligence in various stages of the process. As Voice of America correspondent Natasha Mozgovaya reports from the city of Seattle in the northwestern state of Washington, autonomous robots have been programmed to document work progress and detect potential hazards in a high-rise building project.
When workers finish their work day building a high-rise in Seattle, two autonomous robots with artificial intelligence begin their mission.
The Voice of America spoke with Skanska's director of innovation, Stewart Germain.
“The robot equipped with the plan of the building enters each room checking the works. It records views from all sides with a 360-degree angle. The photos are then analyzed through an artificial intelligence program and the resulting conclusions are sent to the project team.”
Three months ago, when the robots were introduced to the work crew as part of a collaborative project between construction company Skanska and Boston-based firm Nextera Robotics, some of the workers were skeptical.
Garrett Metz is a project engineer at Skanska's Seattle construction site.
“At first I wasn't sure if the robots would be able to follow the project. I have not seen any robot that is able to autonomously maneuver on a constantly changing construction site. Because there are always things on the street, people going in and out. But the robots are doing a very good job.”
The images taken by the robots are passed through an artificial intelligence program capable of recognizing thousands of construction-related details so that engineers and designers can track construction progress and identify potential hazards.
VOA spoke with Nextera Robotics operations manager Jacob Ryals.
“The robot analyzes everything it sees, whether the walls are painted or not. If the frames are placed on the ceiling? Are the ventilation pipes installed and insulated? The robot searches for all these details and then provides detailed processed data that is easy to understand”.
The workers' faces are blurred in the images filmed by the robots to protect their privacy. Project leaders say the robots are there to help workers with tedious or dangerous tasks, not to replace them.
“Using the robot saves you a lot of time. It would take more than 40 hours a week for a photographer to get accurate images on site,” says Stewart Germain, director of innovation at Skanska.
“The robot offers the opportunity to follow the progress of work in a 31-story building with 324 residential apartments. For a human, this task would be very time-consuming and difficult,” says Jacob Ryals, operations manager of Nextera Robotics.
Despite the technological benefits, construction companies have been slow to integrate AI equipment, but Mr Germain thinks that will change.
“The construction industry is at the right stage for a much greater involvement of robots. I think robots will always work side by side with humans as a work tool and bring benefits. I don't think robots will take over the construction process.”
Mr. Germain says it is only a matter of time before artificial intelligence becomes more deeply involved in all processes of the construction sector.
