Bad news for Bob the Builder: Watch Hadrian X the robo-builder create an entire house in just two days

  • It can lay 1,000 bricks an hour and work around the clock, 24 hours a day
  • A robotic 'hand' lays the brick, and applies  adhesive instead of mortar, which improves the thermal efficiency 
  • It 3D scans its surroundings to work out exactly where to place bricks - and is simply parked next to site 

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It can build an entire house in just two days - and never takes tea breaks.

An Australian firm has revealed the Hadrian X, a giant truck mounted building robot that can lay 1,000 bricks an hour, glueing them into place.

It can work 24 hours day, and finish an entire house in just two days. 

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Mounted on the back of a truck, Hadrian X is simply driven onto a building site, and can put down 1,000 bricks an hour using a 30m boom, allowing it to stay in a single position while it builds.

Mounted on the back of a truck, Hadrian X is simply driven onto a building site, and can put down 1,000 bricks an hour using a 30m boom, allowing it to stay in a single position while it builds.

Mounted on the back of a truck, it is simply driven onto a building site.

It can put down 1,000 bricks an hour using a 30m boom, allowing it to stay in a single position while it builds a house. 

Fastbrick, the firm behind it, says it could revolutionise building.

CEO Mike Pivac said:'We are a frontier company, and we are one step closer to bringing fully automated, end to end 3D printing brick construction into mainstream.

The bricks travel along the boom and are gripped by a clawlike device that lays them out methodically, directed by a laser guiding system.

Mortar or adhesive is also deliver under pressure to the hand of the arm and applied to the brick, so no external human element is required.

We're very excited to take the world first technology we proved with the Hadrian 105 demonstrator and manufacturing a state of the art machine.

Instead of traditional cement, Hadrian X will use a construction glue.

'By utilising a construction adhesive rather that traditional mortar, the Hadrian X will maximise the speed of the build and strength and thermal effeciency of the final structure,' the firm said.

The Hadrian X can handle different sized bricks, and also cuts, grinds and mills each brick to fit. 

The company describes the robots as '3D automated robotic bricklaying technology.'

HOW IT WORKS 

A robotic 'hand' that can grab bricks, pick them up, and place them down in sequence.

A robotic 'hand' that can grab bricks, pick them up, and place them down in sequence.

The whole process is automated. 

Bricks are fed onto a conveyor belt that travels along a long robotic arm, or telescopic boom. 

The bricks travel along the boom and are gripped by a clawlike device that lays them out methodically, directed by a laser guiding system. 

Until the brick shell is finished and the house's other elements need to be added, the structure never needs to be touched by human hands.

The robot has a boom 92ft (28 metres) long that is connected to its main body.

At the end is a robotic 'hand' that can grab bricks, pick them up, and place them down in sequence. 

A 3D computer-aided design (CAD) is used to work out the shape of the house or structure required, and the robot then calculates where each brick should go.

Mortar or adhesive is also deliver under pressure to the hand of the arm and applied to the brick, so no external human element is required.

It can even leave spaces for wiring and plumbing, and scans and cuts the bricks if they need to be re-shaped. 

Mounted on the back of a truck, it is simply driven onto a building site.

Mounted on the back of a truck, it is simply driven onto a building site.

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Australian inventor Mark Pivac, who founded Fastbrick Robotics, told Perth Now 'People have been laying bricks for about 6,000 years and ever since the industrial revolution, they have tried to automate the bricklaying process.'  

'We're at a technological nexus where a few different technologies have got to the level where it's now possible to do it, and that's what we've done.' 

The robot has a boom 92ft (28 metres) long that is connected to its main body.

At the end is a robotic 'hand' that can grab bricks, pick them up, and place them down in sequence. 

A 3D computer-aided design (CAD) is used to work out the shape of the house or structure required, and the robot then calculates where each brick should go.

Mortar or adhesive is also deliver under pressure to the hand of the arm and applied to the brick, so no external human element is required.

The robot has a boom 92ft (28 metres) long that is connected to its main body. At the end is a robotic 'hand' that can grab bricks, pick them up, and place them down in sequence.

It can even leave spaces for wiring and plumbing, and scans and cuts the bricks if they need to be re-shaped. 

The project, ten years in the making and with $7 million (£4.5 million) spent on it so far, would supposedly be able to create a house in just two days.

It could work by itself 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and although other aspects of the house would require human intervention, it is perhaps a sign of things to come in construction.

The product will be marketed first in Western Australia, before expanding to the rest of the country and ultimately the whole world.

Mr Pivac noted that he had 'nothing against bricklayers', and simply wanted to improve the process in which houses were made.

He says his robot could help attract younger people to the profession. 

BUILDING THROUGH THE AGES: HOW DID EGYPTIANS MAKE THE PYRAMIDS? 

There are conflicting theories as to how the ancient Egyptians constructed pyramids.

An illustration of the 12th Dynasty Tomb of Djhuihotep shows 172 men pulling a statue along on a sledge, leading some experts to suggest huge blocks needed for the pyramids were transported using the same technique.

This theory has been built on, with some experts suggesting roads were coated in a layer of water to make them slippery.

Other experts have suggested that workers rolled stones along.

Alternative, a cradle-like machine could have been used, while another expert suggested wooden curves could have been fitted to each block to make cylinders.

Historical accounts suggest ramps were built for workers to carry blocks up the structure, but an engineer recently suggested the structures were built from the inside out. 

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