The construction industries are facing problems of productivity, quality of work, safety, and the completion of projects in time. In construction industry a worker is exposed to hazardous environment, and has to do more physical work, effecting his health and also productivity. The automation and robotics can offer solution to many problems of the industry. In the past the major barrier to construction automation is the lack of electronic components and systems. This is solved now with the development of information technology, and the current obstacle is the high cost of automated systems, shortage of public money for R&D, and problems of acceptance. The robots employed in construction have followed the same concept as those employed in manufacturing. However, construction industry requires a different kind of robot compared to manufacturing Industry. The robots are stationery and product moves along the assembly line in manufacturing sector, but construction robots have to move about the site because buildings are stationary and of large size. The construction robots must function in adverse weather conditions, including variation in humidity, and temperature and increase the overall construction productivity rate. The major objective of the paper is to review the existing applications of building robots and to assess their implementation in building industry. A case study is considered for the implementation of robots for the painting work of the University Building at Saifabad PG College of Science, Hyderabad, India.
The authors express their sincere thanks to the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India for funding this research work through permit number SR/S3/RM/55/2002. Authors also wish to express their gratitude to the Department of Civil Engineering, OU for providing facilities to carry out this research work.