Automation and robotics opportunities: Construction versus manufacturing

Automation and robots are frequently mentioned as solutions to industrywide problems of increasing costs, declining productivity, skilled-labor short-ages, safety, and quality control. Despite numerous attempts to develop automation and robotics for construction field operations, few practical applications can be found on construction sites today. The promises of robotics remain unfulfilled, and attempts to transfer automation technology from manufacturing have not been optimal. Identification of opportunities for automation requires analysis of construction work at the appropriate level. This paper presents a hierarchical taxonomy that divides construction field operations into several levels. The basic-task level is the appropriate level for construction automation. The paper presents a set of basic tasks that describe construction field work. Construction is compared to highly repetitive manufacturing operations to gain insight into the relationships among product design, process design, and fabrication. In manufacturing, product and process design are closely interrelated. In construction, process design is completely separate from product design, but is intimately related to fabrication. Until construction product and process design become more highly integrated, automation must occur at the basic-task level. Advances in construction automation will continue to be characterized by a machine performing physically intensive basic tasks, operated by a human craftsperson performing the information-intensive basic tasks.