Dusty, a construction site robot is not at Autodesk University 2022, recently concluded in New Orleans. Instead, we are greeted by Tessa Lau, Dusty Robotics’ founder and CEO.
Dusty is hard at work on multiple construction projects. The sized of a big, flat dog with no legs, Dusty has been wheeling around floors printing floorplans in full scale right on the concrete. It has been doing this for years and has completed over 700 projects.
The previous robot we heard about on construction sites was a grim reminder of a seek-and-destroy death dog (Metalhead, a Black Mirror episode) but how can you be scared of an industrial Roomba?
“We painted big eyes on it so it wouldn’t scare anyone,” says Lau.
Dusty is not Lau’s first robot. The overachieving, whip-smart Lau has dabbled in personal robots, robots that deliver to hotels and others that do “useful work.” If there was anyone more prepared for success in the world of robots, we have not met them. Lau has a PhD in computer science specializing in human-machine interaction (University of Washington) and a combined bachelors in computer science and engineering physics (Cornell). From university, she was hired by IBM’s R&D labs, then went on to Willow Garage in Menlo Park, Savioke in Sunnyvale (where she was known as chief robot whisperer) before founding Dusty Robotics.
Feed Dusty a BIM model and it will draw a floor plan on top of a concrete slab. Construction workers will know exactly where to put walls, doors, fixtures, equipment, etc. Anything Dusty recognizes from the BIM model can be printed on concrete to an accuracy of 1/16”. There is no measuring, no guesswork, no chalk lines.
Chalk lines have been used by builders to show where to build since Egyptians made pyramids. Today’s construction foreman will measure out a floor or foundation, pound a nail for one end of a chalk-covered line and position the body of the chalk tool at another nail and snap the line, leaving a line of blue dust on which walls are constructed, doors are installed, etc. Dusty is not only more accurate than the chalk line, it can print much more than position information. Notes, ductwork, electrical schematics, for example.
Is it any wonder building can be sped up as much as 10 times faster? This according to Dusty Robotics literature.
The name, Dusty Robotics, comes from walking around a very dusty construction site and the original intention for Dusty, which was to sweep up construction sites.
“There’s always someone pushing a broom around on a site, right?”
The name stuck even though the company pivoted to a layout robot instead of a industrial Roomba. Because it was easy to say, friendly sounding – and construction sites are dusty.
17 out of the top 20 general contractors in the U.S. use Dusty, according to Lau.
Who knew? We really have to get out more.