Imagine a world where our buildings, built by robots, fight pollution. Imagine our self-driving cars driving on energy producing roads.

If you’re curious about the future of construction technolog, keep reading. 

How Building Construction Technologies are Using Automation 

Let’s start with how the world of tomorrow could be with the help of robot swarms, drones, and 3D printers.

Robot Swarms 

Robot Swarms are simple task doers, programmed through an algorithm to build. 

Researchers at Harvard University came up with the concept from watching termites build their own structures in swarms. Somehow, even though the bugs aren’t communicating with each other, they make crazy structures. The method? One block at a time.

Imagine you’re building a simple bridge. You lay the first brick and then go back to get another brick. The next builder lays another brick, but they know not to stack it on top because they’re building a bridge (think programming here.) So they carry on until there is an open space. Before long, you’ll have a bridge.

That’s the gist of how it works. Swarms of these durable, little dump-truck-like robots stack layers on top of or next to another layer until the structure is complete.

Drones

Just as there will be little land robots doing all that layering, there’ll also be drones doing some heavy lifting. Quite literally. 

You know those steel cranes that lift massive piping or cross bars to establish the frame of a skyscraper? Well, imagine hundreds of flying drones on the scene. With superior navigation and control, the drones will be able to fit almost any piece into a construction project, while reducing risks.

That risk reduction is key because although people will play major roles in futuristic technology, safety is always precedent. Even so much so that these little drone buddies will also be able to scout work sites for potential hazards or safety concerns.

3D Printed Buildings

Remember in “Meet The Robinsons” when Lewis is traveling through the future and he sees a giant skyscraper built from the ground up, all within seconds? Well, we’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer than you’d think.

Have you heard of 3D-printed houses? They’re part of some really cool, new construction efforts. Programmers can design the complete layout of home with all it’s wiring ports, plumbing holes, and whatnots and then tell the 3D-printer to go to work. Layer by layer, stroke by stroke, the robot will print out the home. 

Will Robots Replace the Construction Worker? 

This is a genuine concern that a lot of people have. Although robots will save construction workers from back pains and muscle sores, there is still a lot of human work to do.

Someone still has to program, design, plan, and incorporate all the specifications of the lands around a project. The robots are only as safe and organized as we plan them to be. All that planning and oversite requires time and wisdom from construction teams.

With our creations getting more complex, advanced, and challenging, the construction worker is more valuable than ever. Implementing some of these future construction technologies into your next project can be intimidating, so we put together a simple implementation guide to help you out. 

How Future Technologies Will Shape Construction

Sure, robots are tech. But we’re talking about the technology that isn’t building stuff. This is future building construction technologies that might even replace things we see in our present world. 

Solar Roads

There was a lot of talk on these back around 2013, and we’re hoping the comeback they’re making sticks.

Imagine roads that generate electricity, melt snow, warn you of upcoming objects like accidents or a stray deer, and even charge your car while you drive (or it drives you, honestly.) 

Companies like Solar Roadways lay out all the ways solar roads beat our boring asphalt streets. They also express how if the entire United States transitioned all roads and walkways to solar, we would create three times the amount of electrical energy we use.   

Green Buildings

They’re like super giant monsters battling against air pollution. Green buildings, A.K.A vertical forests, are impressive structures that also look absolutely wild. Literally.

They have plants flowing out of them. Real live plants. Sometimes up to 1000 trees or over 2000 shrubs. Talk about construction workers punching air pollution straight in the roots.  

Augmented Reality (AR) Usages

Walking into a place and pointing out hypotheticals like “What if we moved that wall?” or “if the heat below this floor is X then we need to compensate for Y” will soon be a thing of the past.

The future of building construction technologies is an era where augmented reality will show real-time concepts and statuses in front of your very eyes. No more having to scratch your head and say, “Yeah…I think I see what you’re saying.”

With AR we will be able to reduce risks, make more accurate measurements, predict outcomes, and showcase what-if scenarios. 

Virtual Reality (VR) Usages 

VR will allow us to reshape entire spaces before even lifting a hammer. But beyond that, we may even start designing spaces intended for VR. Here’s what we mean:

Think of a giant space with lots of moving parts and pieces. To the normal eye, it looks like a warehouse with random machines but put on the VR goggles and… Welcome to the future. 

That space transforms into an interactive, virtual battle arena for the first person shooter fans. Or maybe it becomes an interactive theater designed for the thrill seekers. Imagine a stadium transformed into a VR monster battling competition. With VR, the future of construction is endless. 

Bamboo Cities

Bamboo beams are up to three times stronger than steel beams of similar weight. Think about that. 

Bamboo can grow up to one foot in a day. It also puts out more oxygen than most trees, while absorbing the same amount of CO2. There’s a reason why the bamboo cities of the feature are growing fast in the world of building construction technology. 

What’s Next?

The future of building construction technologies is evolving, even right now.

Swing by our complete estimation guide for help scaling your next project. To keep up on the latest advancements, check out our blog.

For more information about how you might integrate some of these technologies into your own projects, feel free to contact us.

 

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