Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Application in Construction

Viterbi School of Engineering .

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Why automate construction?

• Labor efficiency is alarmingly low

• Skilled workforce is vanishing

• Work quality is low

• Control of the construction site is insufficient and difficult

• Accident rate at construction sites is high (> 400,000 / year in US)

• Waste and trims are high (3 To 7 tons per average home; 40% of all materials used

worldwide are for construction)

• Low income housing and emergency shelters are critical

• Construction is the largest sector of almost all economies

• All other products are fabricated automatically – construction is still

largely a manual task

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USC

Construction productivity decline

Labor productivity comparison for non-farm industries and construction industry developed by Paul Teicholz

Construction Productivity index

Non-farm productivity index

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USC

Edison’s concrete houses

$175,000 for molds

More than 2000 pieces

500,000 pounds

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Automated construction in Japan

• 89 single task construction robots

• 11 different automated construction systems

Concrete Surface Treatment Robot

This robot absorbs the water which remains after concrete has been set.

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Big-Canopy high-rise pre-cast concrete construction system. Used to construct the 26 storey pre-cast concrete 30,726m2 Yachiyodai Condominium building in Japan. The system realized a 60% reduction in labor requirements for the frame erection.

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Form work cost structure

Ties

Wales

Studs

Sheathing

Concrete footing

Brace

Reinforcement

53%30%

10% 7% Formwork Labor

Concrete Materials

Formwork Materials

Concrete Labor

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

ICF Homes

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Concrete filling

Viterbi School of Engineering .

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Insulation

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Construction by Contour Crafting

Viterbi School of Engineering .

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What constitutes construction cost?

Portion Due to If Automated by CC

20%-25% Financing Short project length and control of

time to market will dramatically reduce this cost

25%-30% Materials Will be a wasteless process

45%-55% Labor Will be significantly reduced

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USC

Cavities made with CC and filled with concrete

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Creating hollow depositions

Viterbi School of Engineering .

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Embedding Reinforcement

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

A straight wall builder

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Full scale wall sections

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Conventional and CC forms

Form tie

Concreteform

Tie washer

Sheathing Studs

Wales

Tie rod

Cone Spreader

Tie nut

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USC

Conventional Structure Construction

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Adobe structures – Ageless comfort and beauty

House of Brojerdi Kashan

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Interior of an Adobe house CalEarth Design

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

House made with vaults and domes

Interior of an Adobe house CalEarth Design

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Ingenious methods

Manual construction of adobe form structures using clay bricks (Source: Khalili, 2000)

A vault structure made of clay bricks (Source: Khalili, 2000)

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Free-standing Objects / Industrial parts

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Supportless structures created by CC

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Adobe house Construction

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Extraterrestrial Construction

Viterbi School of Engineering .

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Deployable CC

Viterbi School of Engineering .

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Lunar Construction

Viterbi School of Engineering .

USC

Road construction