Rugged Robotics completes first full-scale pilot on Consigli construction site

The Consigli Construction Company says that a Houston-based construction technology startup, Rugged Robotics, has completed its first full-scale pilot on a Consigli job site.

Consigli says its collaboration with Rugged Robotics is in line with the construction company’s commitment to support and utilize cutting-edge technologies in an effort to advance efficiencies in the construction process.

Founded by a registered professional engineer and a NASA engineer, Rugged Robotics’ inaugural product tackles the challenge of field layout. Traditionally, field layout is performed using tape measures, chalk-lines, and surveying equipment to manually mark the location of walls and mechanical systems.

Rugged Robotics automates this process, marking fully coordinated designs directly on to concrete floors using small robotic vehicles.

Using the rover, construction workers can print much more information than typically seen on a manual layout, reduce the time spent reviewing plans, and as a result, conduct faster, more accurate installations.

It also helps eliminate potential oversights and errors in the manual layout, which can impact multiple trades, and result in incorrect installation, delays, and rework.

Recently, the Rugged Robotics rover was put to the test at Cambridge Crossing – Parcel H, where Consigli is building the new headquarters for Sanofi, one of MA’s largest life science employers.

At Parcel H, Rugged delivered a multi-trade layout on six floors covering more than 240,000 sq ft.

Their automated layout resulted in improved coordination, reduced errors, and significant time savings on the front end.

Derrick Morse, co-founder and CEO of Rugged Robotics, says: “Consigli truly believes in our solution and together, we are working to improve the construction industry.

“As someone who is passionate about the construction industry, it has been thrilling to be in the field and working alongside the Consigli team.”

Jack Moran, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP and Consigli’s director of VDC and Integrated Services, says: “At Consigli, our leadership and technology teams are always looking for ways to make construction projects more accurate and efficient, and maximize the allocation of resources on each site.

“We see technology as a way to support our workforce and to meet the construction demands of the future. Rugged Robotics proved its value with an automated tool that exceeded our expectations and worked in synergy with our team.”

Following the pilot, Rugged and Consigli continue to collaborate as Rugged refines, deploys and scales its solution. Future Consigli projects utilizing the robots are “already in the works”, says the company.

Photos by Robert Umenofer