In the dynamic AEC landscape, innovation in technology helps to direct the industry further. Asia stands as a pioneer within robotics innovation, bringing cutting-edge technology to the forefront of AEC projects. BuiltWorlds discusses some this year's top robotics leaders within the ecosystem in the 2023 Robotics 50 List, including five companies that are within Asia. This list is curated from data within the 2022-2023 Benchmarking Survey, direct industry feedback, and case studies. BuiltWorlds is thrilled to host the inaugural Tokyo Summit this October at the Conrad Hotel. This two-day event aspires to foster collaboration between Asian innovators while allowing participants based outside of Asia the opportunity to gain vital insights of the developments and advancements occurring within the region. Above all, this summit will be a knowledge exchange–discussing all of the intricacies and emerging technologies within the built world. Read more at Builtworld's website: https://builtworlds.com/news/5-robotics-titans-asia-2023-tokyo/

Top solutions were selected from a combination of primary research from our Benchmarking Program, direct industry feedback, and case studies. Read the list of leaders currently pushing the industry forward here: https://lnkd.in/ggnVC6W9 If you are looking to dive deeper into how to improve your tech stack, specifically in equipment & machinery marketplace solutions, fleet management & monitoring solutions, robotics solutions, tools management solutions, and wearable solutions areas, check out the full Benchmarking Report for invaluable insights here: https://lnkd.in/gZAAGqZJ

A robot which does the dirty job of cleaning toilets. A tile-grouting machine which takes over the back-breaking work of five labourers. And a facade-cleaning invention for buildings that eliminates the need for workers to be perched precariously at great heights. Read more here: https://www.straitstimes.com/life/home-design/building-up-to-an-ai-driven-green-future

Fabrica.AI Pte Ltd is a local start-up on a mission to boost construction productivity with a robot designed to accelerate the tile-grouting process. The compact solution operates on LIDAR and computer vision software, which means it can recognise spatial distances and dispense grouting directly into tile gaps with sub-millimetre precision. Human intervention is further minimised with a proprietary self-cleaning mechanism, which can remove excess grouting even in hard-to-reach corners. “The idea behind it is that manpower is only required to refill the grout cannisters every two hours, as well as to change the water and carry the robot to a different site,” said Mr Keefe Wayne Teo, co-founder of Fabrica.AI, explaining how his lightweight, battery-powered robot could operate in any space for up to five hours per charge. With the likelihood of prospective customers requiring multiple units, Teo needed to produce a minimum viable product (MVP) for efficient manufacturing. “Our prototypes have been largely hand-assembled in-house using 3D printed and off-the-shelf parts. We didn’t have any industrial prototyping experience, and the fact that we were relying on breadboards meant the electronics and wiring were prone to malfunction. It was a debugging nightmare,” he recalled. Finding the right match That was when Fabrica.AI was referred by Enterprise SG to IPI’s vast network of technical experts. After scoping the challenges and meeting with several consultants with the relevant skillsets, Teo eventually appointed Mr Garrick Soon, an IPI tech expert and founder of Protoking Pte Ltd, to be the product design consultant. Soon’s role would be to offer feedback on the initial design components, refine the product design, and advise on mass prototyping of the improved grouting robot. An entrepreneur with deep experience in hardware design, prototyping and industrial manufacturing processes, Soon brought multiple ideas to the fore. “Garrick spotted our implementation errors quickly and bridged our understanding between concept and an actual manufactured product. He also helped to fast-track our development process by trimming the bill of material (BOM) costs and outlining a viable supply chain for the components,” revealed Teo. Additionally, Fabrica.AI would benefit from Protoking’s well-established network of contract manufacturers in China — a key advantage considering the plan to produce 50 units of the improved prototype and to kick-start revenue generation by leasing the prototype to interested contractors. Scaling up for production Given the labour constraints in the construction industry both locally and overseas, it was no surprise that companies were open to automation and market interest has been strong. “Many contractors such as Woh Hup, BHCC Construction, Gin Chia, Dragages Singapore, Laticrete and Soilbuild have been keen to try our solution. And so, we’ve had the opportunity to test our prototype at various construction sites and engage with different customers. This gave us valuable insights into the smallest operational details, leading to better design choices for our grouting robot,” he added. As project advisor, Soon applauded the team on Fabrica.AI’s determination and focus. “Their clarity and commitment made it easier for me to recommend the right materials and manufacturing methods for the improved prototype, without them having to figure this out from ground zero. It is so vital to anticipate user behaviours as part of the design thinking process, and I liked that Keefe and his team had a great vision and strategy — not only for increasing construction productivity but also in making homes more affordable for people,” he said. For Fabrica.AI, the journey will not end with the development of an improved robot prototype. Already, Teo has been offering attractive perks to encourage early adoption of his autonomous grouting solution. He elaborates: “We’re offering grouting services on a contract basis, so that customers can experience and reap the benefits of automation, even before they decide to lease the robot. Our customers have nothing to lose. “Our initial target was to boost grouting productivity by five times, with each robot working at the same pace as a human, and with each person controlling up to five robots at a time. However, the trials showed that our robots could actually grout a given space at about twice the speed of a human. As the robots get deployed, we can verify if they work well with the learnt software while the hardware can be optimised automatically in simulation. This would be the first step towards making our new robots ~100x faster to develop,” Teo revealed confidently. He also credits IPI managers, Mr Goh Siong Teck and Ms Paula Sng, for the swift assistance rendered to his team at a crucial juncture. It had taken Fabrica.AI just two months from their first contact with IPI in April 2022, to capturing the pain points, speaking to various tech experts, and signing the consultancy agreement with Protoking in June 2022. “Siong Teck and Paula have been really supportive and responsive from the beginning, paying careful attention to our needs and matching us with the right technical experts. This has truly saved us from many detours and critical pitfalls, enabling us to work through the industrial prototyping and manufacturing processes without going in circles,” Teo concluded.

Seeing that the construction industry’s productivity has stagnated over the last few decades, Fabrica AI identified it as a good opportunity for technological arbitrage. “It is a blue ocean where many young tech entrepreneurs like myself would not have thought about venturing into,” said Keefe Wayne Teo, Co-Founder (COO&CFO) of Fabrica AI. When ideating and developing a robot takes days not years Fabrica AI’s automatic tile grouting robot boosts productivity by five times and are currently carrying out pilots at construction sites in Singapore managed by Woh Hup, BHCC, Gin Chia, Soilbuild, Chan Rong Fen and Dragages. Grouting is a highly laborious process that is part of every construction project, and it is one of the most physically damaging tasks resulting in tilers’ knees and back issues, and thus quality issues often arise. The patent pending robot can automatically grout and clean tile gaps with only a press of a button, the operators only need to reload grout and water. By training end to end controls in simulation and through reinforcement learning combined with iterating hardware designs, Fabrica AI aims to automate the whole development process. “At the current stage, the most important resource is a large fleet of robots to validate our approaches for our AI system and to collect data. This keeps us grounded as we build our Fabricator Platform, which we hope to acquire the first paying customers for by the end of 2024,” said Keefe.

Fabrica AI had the opportunity to showcase our technology to the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Heng Swee Keat at Woh Hup (Private) Limited’s Tech Hub. Our team was honoured to demonstrate our automatic tile grouting robot, boosting construction productivity by being fully autonomous without the need for any prior set-up. As we continue to push the boundaries of innovation, we are grateful for the support and recognition from leaders in the industry. Stay tuned for more updates on our journey to make construction tasks easier and more efficient! Witness our robot in action

As a demo day presenter for the December 2022 BuiltWorlds Venture Forum, Fabrica AI had the opportunity to present our company to a robust community dedicated to a better built future. BuiltWorlds' December Venture Forum featured a 2022 venture activity analysis with insights pulled from the Top Investors 50 List, a fund announcement, and demo day presentations from Frontline, Mercator AI, Fabrica AI, Blue Vigil. Find out more here: https://builtworlds.com/videos/demo-drop-fabrica-ai/

Fabrica AI was amongst a line-up of 8 promising innovators that pitched various innovations ranging from smart infrastructure inspection and site management, to improved construction process and material innovation, with use-cases across the Built Environment sector. Built Environment Demo Day 2022 is organised by the Building & Construction Authority (BCA) as part of the International Built Environment Week (IBEW). IBEW has drawn more than 10,000 individuals from over 100 countries. Keefe presented at the event held at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and we won the Rising Star Award. BCA's CEO Kelvin Wong kicked off Built Environment Demo Day, also launching the fourth cycle of the Built Environment Accelerate-to-Market Programme (BEAMP) which consists of 13 challenge statements posed by 15 unique industry firms who are seeking to improve construction productivity, digitalise their process across the building lifecycle and adopt advanced materials and fabrication techniques. Congratulations to the other winning teams (gush and ConcreteAI) and we are ever so grateful for this opportunity!