Fully Autonomous Construction Vehicles: An elusive dream

The current state of autonomous construction involves navigating through technological challenges and strategic shifts, mirroring the pursuit of self-driving cars. Leading companies, such as Built Robotics and Caterpillar Inc., are tackling this endeavor. Built Robotics, originally focused on autonomous excavators, has redirected its attention to robotic pile drivers for solar farm installations, aligning with the industry's trend toward more specific and manageable tasks. Caterpillar Inc., while experimenting with autonomous machinery, adopts a cautious approach, prioritizing semi-automated and remotely operated equipment due to the dynamic nature of construction sites.

Promise Robotics recently secured $15 million in Series A funding, underscoring substantial venture capital interest in automated homebuilding. Their AI-driven platform transforms industrial robots for construction, promising cost savings, reduced greenhouse emissions, and the creation of new jobs in the industry. This funding reflects increasing confidence in automation technologies reshaping traditional homebuilding methods.

These strategic shifts signify a broader industry trend: acknowledging challenges while maintaining optimism about the potential of AI and robotics in construction. The journey towards achieving fully autonomous construction sites is ongoing, with companies adapting and innovating to confront these challenges head-on.

Navigating the Shifting Landscape: Built Robotics Pivots from Construction to Solar Installations

Just a few short years ago, the outlook was boundless: envision a world where cars are automated, eradicating traffic accidents – the leading cause of fatalities in the United States. Envision the automation of construction through robot dozers, excavators, and other heavy machinery, potentially resolving housing and infrastructure shortages in the US. Built Robotics initiated trials for autonomous excavators in 2017 with the ambition of advancing machine capabilities on construction sites. At that time, CEO Noah Ready-Campbell foresaw a future where fully autonomous equipment would be a common sight on construction sites even before fully autonomous cars hit the public roads. However, after almost seven years of employing autonomous excavators for trench digging, Built Robotics recently declared a shift in focus. Their new emphasis is on the installation of solar farms, introducing the RPD-35 – a robotic pile driver designed for a singular, straightforward task. This device utilizes a dull metal head affixed to a mechanical arm to drive steel beams into the ground.

CEO Ready-Campbell expressed, "It's exclusively solar projects for us now. While it may seem like we're narrowing our focus, I believe that solar will emerge as the predominant narrative for our country's electrical grid over the next 10 to 20 years." He clarified that this strategic shift aims, in part, to capitalize on infrastructure and climate-change funding approved by the US Congress last year. As a result, Built Robotics will allocate less time to other project endeavors. While fully autonomous vehicles have made strides on roads in China and the US, the realization of the dream for driverless cars and AI in construction appears to have fallen short.

Major players such as Caterpillar in the US, Doosan in Korea, and Volvo in Europe embarked on trials involving fully autonomous heavy-duty machinery for construction sites a few years back. However, this concept has yet to progress beyond the prototype stage or achieve widespread availability.

Developing AI and robotics technology for construction sites presents a formidable challenge. Construction tasks frequently demand manipulation of objects in a three-dimensional space, occurring in environments that are in a constant state of flux. In contrast, automation excels in repetitive tasks with predictable outcomes, and creating self-driving vehicles for well-mapped public roads, which undergo slower changes, is somewhat more straightforward.

Caterpillar, renowned as the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer with extensive AI expertise, notably won Darpa's self-driving car challenge in 2007. The company delved into autonomous truck experiments as early as the 1990s, with approximately 600 autonomous trucks currently operational in mines globally. Despite these achievements, Caterpillar has not yet commercialized automated dozers or excavators for construction, even though it set a 2020 goal to boost software sales for autonomous machinery control. According to CTO Karl Weiss, while Caterpillar is testing heavy machinery automation on construction sites with select partners, there are no semi-automated machines actively employed, and specific details remain undisclosed.

Anthony Levandowski, co-founder of Google's self-driving car project, recently pleaded guilty to stealing a confidential Google document before leaving the company. The plea includes a maximum fine of $250,000 and a potential prison term of 10 years, with prosecutors likely recommending 24 to 30 months. Levandowski's charges relate to actions before he founded the self-driving truck startup Otto, which Uber acquired for $680 million. In a settlement with Waymo (Google's AV effort), Uber paid about $245 million in 2018, prompting the suggestion of a criminal case against Levandowski. In August 2019, he was indicted on 33 charges related to trade secret theft. At the Consumer Electronics Show, Hyundai Construction Equipment (HCE) and Hyundai Doosan Infracore unveiled advanced smart construction solutions. The Concept-X project aims to create a safe, efficient unmanned construction site, and the XiteCloud product partially commercializes these technologies. Caterpillar, a leader in construction equipment, is also exploring automation, aiming for fully autonomous construction sites. However, Caterpillar's Chief Technology Officer, Karl Weiss, emphasizes the need for partners to be comfortable with the technology's maturity, citing the challenges of construction sites' dynamic nature.

Caterpillar started automating mining and construction over a decade ago but found quicker success in mines due to semi-permanent roads and secure underground locations. The company, along with startup Teleo, suggests a transition phase with remote operation of semi-automated equipment before full autonomy. Caterpillar's goal is to enable one person to operate multiple machines simultaneously through algorithmic assistance. Meanwhile, Volvo and Doosan are designing cabin-less machines, with Doosan aiming to commercialize its autonomous Concept-X project by 2025. Despite progress, experts like Anthony Levandowski and Built CEO Noah Ready-Campbell express caution. Levandowski, now with startup Pronto.ai, believes fully autonomous construction equipment is still a long way off. Pronto focuses on automating trucks in mines and quarries, emphasizing the simplicity of privately owned road networks. Ready-Campbell notes the challenges in convincing customers to adopt automation, stressing the need to address significant pain points for successful adoption. Currently, Built Robotics concentrates on a robotic pile driver, steering away from automating other construction equipment.