Construction / Demolition

DustyRoboticsFundingSF400x275Dusty Robotics, which creates robotics for the construction industry, has announced it raised $45 million in a Series B funding round. The company said it plans to use the funds to grow its team, expand its product offerings, and accelerate manufacturing with a goal of deploying Dusty products on all construction sites in the U.S.

 

CybernetixVentures400x275Cybernetix Ventures, an independent venture capital firm that invests in early-stage robotics, automation and artificial intelligence companies, has announced launching its first global fund, headquartered in Boston. 

 

BuiltRoboticsDigger400x275Built Robotics, which develops aftermarket autonomy systems for construction equipment, has announced raising $64 million in Series C funding. The latest round was led by Tiger Global, with participation from existing investors at NEA, Founders Fund, Fifth Wall, and Building Ventures.

 

DiamondAgeCentury400x275Century Communities, a national homebuilder, has teamed up with robotics company Diamond Age to build 72 homes in the Phoenix metropolitan area as part of the Century Complete Brand. The agreement kicks off the first time Century Communities will use 3D printing to construct new homes, as well as the first on-site commercial deployment for Diamond Age.

 

DiamondGantry400x275Diamond Age, a Phoenix-based robotics startup that is automating new home construction, has announced it raised $50 million in a Series A funding round. The company said it will use the funding to continue scaling its robotics platform and execute on its first commercial contract to build homes.

 

H3Dynamics Solar400x275H3 Dynamics has announced a new robots-as-a-service (RaaS) offering for autonomous solar farm monitoring, in partnership with Belgium’s Sitemark, which specializes in AI analytics.

 

TinyMobileRobots400x275German industrial group STIHL has announced it acquired 23.8% of Danish robotics company TinyMobileRobots, which uses GPS to autonomously mark lines for sports fields around the world. STIHL said its robotic lawn mowers share a strong technical kinship with the line marking robots produced by TinyMobileRobots, which can be used in other sectors such as road construction and agriculture.

 

TopconGTL 1200 400x275Topcon Positioning Group, which designs and manufactures precision measurement and workflow solutions for construction, geospatial and agriculture markets, has announced the release of the GTL-1200. The new system combines the power of a robotic total station with a best-in-class laser scanner, enabling users to perform digital layout and capture high-resolution 3D scans within a single setup.

 

FANUC M1000iA 400x275FANUC America has announced the M-1000iA robot, which can handle heavy products such as automotive components, construction materials and battery packs for electric vehicles. The robot is its largest serial-link robot to date, with a 1,000 kg payload, a 3,253 mm horizontal reach, and 4,297 mm vertical reach. Production units are expected to ship in Q1 2022.

 

BobcatMoog400x275Moog Inc. has announced it partnered with Doosan Bobcat to help build the world’s first all-electric compact track loader. The Bobcat T7X, which does not use hydraulic parts or oil, is a zero-emission and all-electric machine with the power and performance of a diesel hydraulic machine but without the noise, emissions and hydraulic leaks. The system is also built with the expectation of adding autonomous features down the road, the companies said.

 

PaceRobotics400x275Pace Robotics, a Bangalore, India-based construction robotics startup, has announced raising seed investment from Pidilite Industries Ltd., which has acquired an equity stake of 19.5% in the company. The company said it will use the funds for product development and core team expansion.

 

SmartDroneDiscovery400x275Steel City Drones, a reseller based in Birmingham, Ala., has announced a partnership with SmartDrone to provide quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for surveying and mapping services in the southeastern U.S. The partnership will offer land surveyors and mapping professionals with the latest technologies, with drones available in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee for missions using lidar scanning for surveying and mapping.

 

Petra400x275Petra, a robotics company that can create tunnels through hard geologies for utilities, has announced the completion of a 20-foot demonstration tunnel through the hardest rock on earth, as well as a Series A funding round of $30 million. Petra’s hard rock boring robot aims to transform the way all utilities are buried underground by tackling the hardest problem in underground construction – how to bore utility tunnels reliably and cost-effectively through nightmare geologies, the company said.

 

CleoDronutX1 400x275Cleo Robotics, which has developed a stable and highly maneuverable ducted bi-rotor drone, has announced the availability of the Dronut X1, aimed at law enforcement, industrial inspection, construction and defense use cases. The company’s patented thrust vectoring technology has made the hyper-efficient ducted fan design stable in flight. The Dronut’s completely enclosed propellers enable the X1 to safely bounce off objects and people, and is a fraction of the size of similarly featured drones.

 

HondaWorkVehicle400x275Honda and Black & Veatch have announced a successful test of the prototype Honda Autonomous Work Vehicle (AWV) at a Black & Veatch construction site in New Mexico. During the month-long field test, the second-generation of the fully electric Honda AWV was able to perform several tasks at a large-scale solar energy construction project, including towing activities and transporting construction materials, water, and other supplies to pre-set destinations within the work site.

 

VolvoLego400x275Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has announced a fully autonomous, battery-electric prototype vehicle inspired by a concept devised by LEGO Technic and Volvo engineers and designers. The LX03 is a real-world example of a self-learning concept wheel loader with the brains to make decisions, perform tasks, and interact with humans.