Fastbrick Robotics assembles Hadrian X for quick progress towards construction revolution
Fastbrick Robotics’ Hadrian X is now ready for extensive testing of its functionality over the coming months.
Robotic technology company Fastbrick Robotics (ASX: FBR) has completed a significant milestone in its mission to revolutionise the construction industry.
The Perth-based company announced the completion of its Hadrian X robot, said to be the world’s most advanced construction robot capable of building an entire single-storey house in under 2 days autonomously and with almost no human input or intervention.
Fastbrick claims its technology is the first stage of a revolution in human/machine collaborative digital construction, taking the benefits of fully automated machines onto the construction site.
The final assembly and completion of the Hadrian X mean that Fastbrick’s development team can now hand over the reigns for extensive testing of the robot’s functionality to commence.
“This represents the start of a very important phase for Fastbrick, where we’ll get the opportunity to globally demonstrate the Hadrian X and what might be possible for the future. Our focus is to scale this product and get it into the market, as well as applying the underlying technology to a range of products across a range of other sectors,” said Mike Pivac, CEO of Fastbrick Robotics.
“We’ve grown a very motivated and focused team at FBR, and I’m very pleased that the future looks bright for our team and the company,” said Mr Pivac.
From hardware to software
Another critical component to any hardware-led revolutionary technology is software.
On this front, Fastbrick has also made significant progress with all the necessary software required to run the Hadrian X also completed.
Fastbrick says that the software that drives each component of the Hadrian X is now
“in the advanced stages,” and adds that the improvements it has made as part of a concurrent software and mechanical development cycle have allowed the company to avoid future redesigns and rebuilds.
The company expects to make further tweaks as a part of an ongoing testing and streamlining phase before the Hadrian X can be marketed and sold to a mass audience around the world.
“We are very pleased from to have completed both the mechanical assembly and the software modules that drive each component of the Hadrian X in parallel. The ability to apply our learnings from the software development before we arrived at the mechanical testing phase has allowed us to de-risk a lot of the work still to come, which is a great result for the company,” said Mr Pivac.
Looking further afield
A potentially significant development for Fastbrick is its imminent re-branding phase including a name change to ‘FBR Limited’.
The reasoning for the change is to better align the company with its future marketability and the likely diversification towards a number of different operating divisions emerging from its multifaceted Dynamic Stabilisation Technology (DST), in addition to its construction robotics unit.
Fastbrick says it intends to develop additional innovations with the potential of targeting “numerous industries beyond bricklaying and construction.”
According to Fastbrick’s operations chief Marcus Gracey, “the rebranding of the company from ‘Fastbrick Robotics’ to ‘FBR’, has been activated at this time to ensure that our ongoing branding is aligned with our emerging structure and Company strategy. The key message is that FBR is not just about bricklaying and, as a result, we are adjusting our branding and structure now to ensure that it is better aligned with our future plans.”
Fastbrick must still complete mechanical testing and commissioning of the Hadrian X and is working towards completing rigorous testing in order to meet strict building regulations in both Australia and overseas.
The Hadrian X programme will now move to the factory acceptance testing phase, where the Hadrian X will build structures in different configurations within a controlled factory environment, expected to take several months.
Following factory acceptance, the Hadrian X is expected to move into outdoors field testing in preparation for its first house build, a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom structure, currently scheduled to occur sometime in the second half of this year.