Emerging Engineering Technology: Robots in the Construction Engineering Industry
Nov 19, 2018
It's almost 2019: the year that the movie Blade Runner was set in. If you've seen Blade Runner (or read the book it's based off of, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), it's interesting to think about how past decades envisioned the 21st century. In the movie, synthetic robot humans were created to do labor in off-world colonies for the Tyrell Corporation.
Although we aren't building robotic humans now, we are using robotics to help do certain tasks. Robots are becoming relatively popular in the construction engineering industry. Check out how robots are helping below:
1. Brick-Laying
As the robotics industry continually advances, those in the construction industry can take a breather, as robots are beginning to take over time-consuming repetitive tasks such as brick-laying. Of course, the robots would need supervision to make sure nothing goes wrong, but this advancement of technology is a big step forward for the construction industry.i
2. Surveying Land
What is that in the sky? Is it a bird? A plane? Neither! It's a drone! Drones have emerged throughout the past few years as not only a leisure device but also have made their way into engineering and surveying projects. Drones can be used to survey a construction site, send images of nearly inaccessible points on a structure, and improve overall job-site safety.ii
3. Arc Welding
Japan always seems to be in the lead of other countries when it comes to technological advances. A construction company in Japan is making their welding processes much quicker and efficient by using robots for arc welding structural steel. According to Robotics Online, "Steel I-beams are pre-cut by robots and brought to the job site when required with relatively little welding necessary. Most welding is performed by the robot in the factory, lending the building process to lean, Just-in-Time manufacturing."iii
With this exciting engineering technology emerging, now is a great time to go into the civil engineering field. To make the process of becoming a licensed civil engineer as smooth and as stress free as possible, School of PE offers an 84-hour PE Civil exam review course, which covers both the breadth and depth portions of the exam. Past PE Civil students have had great success with School of PE, as 90% of PE Civil students passed their exam in October 2017.
References
i. 10 Construction Trends Shaping the Industry in 2016 and Beyond.
Retrieved from https:// www.forconstructionpros.com / business/article/12162200/10 construction-trends-shaping the-industry-in-2016-and-beyond
ii. Dillow, C. The Construction Industry Is in Love with Drones.
iii. Brumson, B. (n.d.). Construction Robots and Constructing a Robotics Community.
Latest Blogs
Blogs by Year/ Month
Copied to clipboard