How robots and AI are building the future of construction

May 21

construction worker using ai on a building project — An employee uploads 2D and 3D work orders for robotic machines that produce mass timber components at Intelligent City. A growing number of companies are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to make the construction industry more efficient and sustainable. (Source: Intelligent City)

By Sara Harowitz

The future residents of 230 Royal York Road will be able to say their home was built by robots.

The nine-storey housing development in Toronto’s west end is being built by Intelligent City: a BC-based construction design and technology company specializing in prefabricated mass timber buildings. Intelligent City uses AI software to design and optimize its projects, and robotic arms to actually put the pieces together.

“The more standardized things are, the easier they are to mass produce — and the more custom things are, the slower you are in production,” Intelligent City president Oliver David Krieg told Canada’s National Observer.

“You have to find a middle ground, and that’s where automation comes in; that’s where robots come in,” he added.

“You can program the robots to basically repeat the same logic, but always with a slightly different variation to it,” Krieg said, explaining that machines programmed to apply glue to specific timber shapes can be reprogrammed for different configurations.

How robots and AI are building the future of construction

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