Construction Robots: Volume 3 Elementary Technologies and Single-Task Construction Robots

Learn how Single-Task Construction Robots (STCRs) can improve productivity in the construction industry with this cross-disciplinary text. This third volume in The Cambridge Handbooks in Construction Robotics series discusses the STCRs employed on construction sites since the development of the approach in the 1980s, presents current applications, and highlights upcoming trends in the construction automation and robotics field. Two hundred different types of STCR are presented, from the simplest models comprising simple manipulators and mobile platforms, to those utilizing more sophisticated technologies such as aerial robotics, swarm robotics, exoskeletons, additive manufacturing technologies, self-assembling building structures, and humanoid robotics. Real-world case studies demonstrate the different application scenarios for each approach, and highlight the key implementation and management issues. With an easy-to-follow structure, and including hundreds of color illustrations, it provides an excellent toolkit for professional engineers, researchers, and students.

1. Introduction; 2. Single-Task Construction Robots (STCRs) by category; 3. Transition and technological reorientation towards integrated On-site Manufacturing (ONM); 4. From standalone solutions to systems integrated by structured environments.

Thomas Bock is a professor of building realization and robotics at Technische Universität München (TUM). His research has focussed for thirty-five years on automation and robotics in building construction, from the planning, prefabrication, on-site production and utilization phases to the reorganization and deconstruction of a building. He is a member of several boards of directors of international associations, and is a member of several international academies in Europe, the Americas and Asia. He consulted several international ministries and evaluates research projects for various international funding institutions. He holds honorary doctor and professorship degrees. Professor Bock serves on several editorial boards, heads various working commissions and groups of international research organizations, and has authored or coauthored more than four hundred articles.
Thomas Linner is a postdoctoral researcher in building realization and robotics, and a research associate at Technische Universität München (TUM). He completed his dissertation (Dr.-Ing.) in 2013 in the field of automation and mass customization in construction with a particular focus on automated/robotic on-site factories. Dr Linner is a specialist in the area of automated, robotic production of building 'products' as well as in the conception and performance enhancement of those products through the embedding of advanced technology (service robots, microsystems technology). Today, more and more, issues related to innovation management are becoming key topics in his research. Dr Linner is a frequently invited speaker at universities such as the University of Tokyo and the University of Cambridge.