Fastbrick Robotics has decided to start building a second prototype Hadrian X, the commercial version of its one-armed bricklaying robot.
Mark Pivac, Chief Technology Officer, says the the board has agreed to adopt the latest high-technology best practices and invest in a second Hadrian X prototype.
“The second Hadrian X will be assembled and tested in parallel with the current Hadrian X prototype and will allow the engineering team to significantly de-risk the assembly and test phases by applying the learnings from the assembly and de-bugging process between each,” he says in the company’s quarterly report.
The goal is to have a machine that can construct the brick component of a house within three days.
“As we move away from the 3D virtual testing and simulation test environment to the engineering floor,” says Pivac, “we will start to see progress as the procurement process gathers pace. Over the coming months and as we move into 2018, this will translate into the engineering team starting to assemble and test some of the key modules of the Hadrian X.”
Earlier in 2017, the U.S. machinery giant Caterpillar invested $2 million in Fastbrick, with an option for a further $8 million.
The Hadrian X is expected to cost about $2 million when it goes into full production in 2019.
The machine requires minimal human interaction and works day and night, laying up to 1,000 bricks an hour — about the output of two human bricklayers for a day.
The prototype Hadrian 105 robot, the first of its kind, can be seen in action at https://youtu.be/4YcrO8ONcfY.
