Fastbrick Robotics, an Australian company developing a robotic bricklayer, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Caterpillar, a deal that will further develop Fastbrick’s technology, which is capable of 3D printing homes and other structures.
Cat says the new partnership will see the two companies working together in the development of robotic bricklaying technology including the manufacturing, sales and services surrounding the technology. To guide development, the companies have also agreed to establish a strategic alliance board comprised of representatives from both companies.
Caterpillar has also invested $2 million in Fastbrick through a placement. As part of the placement agreement, Fastbrick has agreed to issue fully paid ordinary shares in the company to Caterpillar at 10 cents AUD per share. Cat also has the option of investing an additional $8 million into Fasbrick at an issue price of 20 cents AUD per share. Fastbrick has announced it intends to seek shareholder approval of that investment within 60 days.
The deal gets Caterpillar in on the ground floor of a construction technology that has been creating a quiet, but sustained buzz. Videos of prototypes have been floating around the internet for the last few years, creating speculation around the future of human bricklayers. However, the market for these machines has yet to be realized as the technology behind them is quite complex.
Fastbrick is still working to bring its robot to market. It has a working prototype called the Hadrian X and the company plans to first release a finalized version of this bot in its home market of Australia. As you can see in the time-lapse video below, the robot can be attached to an excavator and sends bricks down a conveyor belt to the bricklaying mechanism. At the end of the line, mortar is spread along the brick before it is flipped, gripped and placed.
In terms of what type of bricks the machine can lay, Fastbrick says on its website the system has been designed to handle “a universal range of products up to 500mm x 250mm x 250mm in size.” (19.6 in. x 9.8 in. x 9.8 in.) The Hadrian X can lay 1,000 standard-size house bricks per hour.
We asked Caterpillar for more details on the nature of the Fastbrick development deal and whether the deal might place Fastbrick robots in Cat dealerships, but the company declined to comment.
