Hilti Develops Autonomous Construction Robot

Courtesy of Hilti

Fresh on the heels of announcing a wearable exo-skeleton for construction workers, Hilti is bringing even more technology to the jobsite. This time, innovation takes the form of a construction jobsite robot designed for drilling ceilings. Hilti says the robot will work semi-autonomously and automatically report progress to the project office.

The Hilti Jaibot takes building information modeling (BIM) data to accurately position itself on jobsites, performing repetitive tasks without an operator. Hilti says this robot directly addresses two important issues they believe plague the construction industry: productivity and safety.

“The productivity of the construction industry has been lagging behind other sectors for years,” says Jan Doongaji of the Hilti Group executive board. “Margin pressure and shortages of skilled labor are already facts of life in our industry and make it increasingly difficult to overcome productivity shortfalls. But leveraging the opportunities offered by digitization will compensate for it.”

Hilti sees the introduction of robots onto the jobsite as a way to increase efficiency and limit fatiguing and tedious physical work normally performed by human workers.

“We looked at which routine work on the construction site is among the most stressful, and that is primarily overhead work,” said Julia Zanona, product manager for robotics at Hilti. “From the beginning, it was important to us to develop a robotic solution that supports our customers where it is most needed. The Hilti Jaibot takes over the most strenuous and exhausting tasks, working alongside the installation team.”