Perth robotics firm and Brickworks launch ‘wall-as-a-service’ offering

The Perth robotics firm behind bricklaying bot Hadrian X has partnered with building materials group Brickworks to launch a joint venture supplying ‘wall-as-a-service’ to the Australian market.

Fastbrick Robotics (FBR) and Brickworks today announced they had formed a joint venture called Fastbrick Australia. The 50/50 venture will see FBR’s Hadrian X build walls using special concrete masonry blocks developed by Brickworks.

Wall as a Service (WaaS) operations will start soon, the companies said, and will be focused on residential construction projects.

Hadrian X – named after the wall-building Roman emperor – is a large, truck mounted robotic arm which follows a CAD plan to lay large bricks (approximately 12 times bigger than standard house bricks), which are fused together with fast bonding adhesive.

The robot is capable of laying a block every 20 to 30 seconds, and has the potential to build up to 300 homes a year, FBR claims.

The Hadrian X features what FBR calls Dynamic Stabilisation Technology, which measures movement caused by wind, vibration and inertia and “counteracts it in real-time using advanced algorithms”.

FBR CEO Mike Pivac said in a statement today the joint venture would help “demonstrate and test our business model for the commercialisation of Wall as a Service” which the companies intend to “scale on a global basis”.

In November last year, Hadrian X completed a three bedroom, two bathroom home in under three days, marking what Pivac called a “quantum leap for the construction industry”.

FBR completed itsfirst ever outdoor build of a house using the Hadrian X in February this year, “proving that our technology works in outdoor environments” the company said.

“Sometimes I think the enormity of the task we undertook is lost on people, but there’s a reason why we are the first team in the world to achieve this, and that is because it is not easy to do, and it’s why there is such a big commercial opportunity in front of ushellip;When the Hadrian X is in full flight it is a sight to behold,” Pivac said at the time.

The specially developed Brickworks blocks are currently being tested at FBR’s facility in High Wycombe, Western Australia.