Construction Robotics retooled its SAM100 OS 2.0, a robotic bricklayer whose original 150-brick-per-hour version has toiled for two years on scaffolds alongside U.S. masons, to more than double its production.
The OS 2.0 can lay bricks at a rate of 350 per hour—about 3,000 per day, or roughly two to three times the rate of a pair of masons.
SAM is meant to augment masons’ work while attracting a younger, more technologically oriented workforce to the trade. Its primary role is to boost productivity, making operations more profitable. “We see robots and masons working in a collaborative fashion,” says Scott Peters, Construction Robotics’ president and cofounder.
SAM relies on a mason to operate it, a tender to load it with masonry and mortar, and another mason to fasten wall ties, remove excess mortar, and lay bricks at corners and other challenging locations.
Construction Robotics currently operates a fleet of four …