Unveiled at World of Concrete 2026, DeWalt’s new autonomous drilling robot is now available for commercial order.
With its new name, “DALE,” the robotic downward drill is aimed at data center construction to speed up mechanical, electrical and plumbing installation and overall construction.
DALE can drill at speeds up to 10 times faster than traditional methods, the company says. During a year of testing, it “reduced project timelines by a total of 190 weeks across 26 data-center construction phases and achieved 99.97% accuracy drilling more than 230,000 holes.”
(To watch the robot drill in action, check out our video here.)
With fast-swap batteries and remote monitoring, DALE can support around-the-clock drilling operations, according to DeWalt. It also has integrated automatic dust extraction and AI-enhanced quality assurance to ensure sites are clean and properly prepped for installation work. The robot can help limit crews’ exposure to silica dust, vibration and other hazards.
It drills at a 90-degree angle holes up to 1-1/2 inches in diameter down to 14 inches.
“The downward drilling robot’s year-long pilot with one of the world’s most influential technology leaders powerfully demonstrated its ability to accelerate schedules, reduce costs, enhance precision and elevate safety in downward drilling applications,” said Bill Beck, president of tools and outdoor at Stanley Black & Decker, DeWalt’s parent company. “Now, we’re advancing to the next phase: delivering this breakthrough technology to a broader market and empowering customers to achieve unparalleled speed, efficiency and results on their most demanding projects.”
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Other features on the drill include:
- Built-in obstacle and work-boundary detection.
- Ability to deploy a fleet of DALEs.
- Uses layout points from CAD models, including MSuite.
- Can drill through rebar.
- Advanced sensors enable it to adapt to different jobsites.
DALE Drill Robot Specs
- Drilling rate: ¾ in. x 2 in. holes in 1 min. 20 sec.; 1-1/8 in. x 8 in. holes in 3 min.
- Dimensions: WxLxH: 2’ x 3’ x 4’
- Weight: 300 lbs.; 330 lbs. w/battery
