The robotics involved in construction is benefitting more than any other robotic field now. The construction field could save a lot by adding automated technologies. This has been boosted by the pandemic that caused many nonessential businesses to go down. The past year has seen the emergence of a number of players in the category including Toggle, Dusty, Scaled, and SkyMul.
Another important player emerging in this field is Houston-based Rugged Robotics. It was founded in 2018 and has completed a $2.5 million seed round in 2019. Other financing rounds haven’t been announced by the company. But it has brought out new technological products in pilots. This includes a partnership between the company and Massachusetts-based construction company Consigli. Jack Moran of Consigli said that when they had a progressive-looking client, they had to build a pretty complex structure for a building that included odd shapes.
Rugged’s “layout Roomba” helped in the construction of a 10-storey building in Cambridge. It helped in drawing blueprints on the ground. The total space was almost 40,000 square feet on every floor. This project has helped Rugged to move from their development stage to commercializing stage. Rugged founder and CEO Derrick Morse said that the layout process is one of the most important in the process of construction. Well-defined marking of where things would be installed will make the process easier and avoid potential mistakes.
The team of Rugged has only six full-time employees. They have developed a total of three robots and are soon adding two more to the list. The layout is marked with dot-matrix ink patterns on the ground to give a better idea for the construction team on the orientation of the buildings they are going to construct. The robot on the construction site will be supervised by a member of the Rugged team. The startup belongs to a RaaS (robotics as a service) model that complements the construction industry. Morse added that many companies have made deals with them for demos and pilots. He hopes that they will experience considerable growth in the coming months and will look for additional capital to power the growth.
