Dive Brief:

• Research to remotely pilot robots and improve how the machines model construction environments is well underway at the University of California in San Diego.
• The team, led by electrical and computer engineering professors Truong Nguyen and Nikolay Atanasov, is looking for ways to integrate robotics into the construction industry and improve the 3D models and mapping they use to navigate their environments, according to a Dec. 16 news release.
• Atanasov, who directs the Existential Robotics Laboratory at UC San Diego, said that the goal of the project is to automate the dangerous and dirty aspects of the construction industry, such as lifting heavy objects or welding, per the release.

Dive Insight:

The work is split into two parts— mapping out the area that the robot will need to see or understand and operating the machine remotely. Mapping turns what the robot sees into a 3D model, which the pilot can then interact with.

In recent years, robots have garnered increasing focus for the construction industry, due to their varied applications — laying bricks, tossing bags and autonomously performing tasks like layout — and their potential to keep humans away from dangerous jobs.

“Understandably, most workers aren’t willing to put themselves into dangerous situations,” Nguyen said in the release. “The work that we’re doing now means that a single operator can remotely operate several robots that can perform those tasks in a more safe, efficient and convenient manner.”

The group is nearly halfway through the $786,500 project, which runs until the end of August 2027. Part of the funding comes from the Korea Institute for Advanced Technology, a South Korean government research funding initiative, and the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, a South Korean research institute.

The research team will focus next on integrating the two solutions into one cohesive system. South Korean smart construction firm ITOne, another grant funder, will test the solution on an apartment construction project using robotic arms, per the release.

“We’re very happy with the results for the 3D construction, but we need to integrate that technology with robotic manipulators,” said Brian Lee, a postdoctoral researcher in Atanasov’s lab, in the release. “Now, we need to test it with a human operator and integrate our system with a compelling setup that can interface with a human.”