The contractor has brokered a partnership with robotics company FieldAI to deploy autonomous quadrupeds across its UK sites, initially using them to capture 360º imagery and point cloud data to analyse sites’ progress against digital models. The bots will also patrol to ensure safety rules are being followed and quality assurance is maintained. McLaren has already trialled the technology on several sites, including its £100m refurbishment of the London School of Economics’ 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields building.
The dog-like Spot machines, supplied by prominent robot design and manufacturing firm Boston Dynamics, are meant to automate the work site forepeople do. Regular automated scans from the bots can record installation work, using software to compare what the robot sees with the design model to highlight any deviations from the plan.
It is not yet clear if four-legged machines will find a permanent home on building sites, however. “Construction sites are designed for us humans,” says Kereshmeh Afsari, associate professor for construction engineering and management at Virginia Tech University, who has researched the use of quadruped robots on live construction sites since 2020. “We are biped walkers. We can walk over gaps and go up the stairs, and that’s something that a legged robot is very compatible with.”
While wheeled robots might be simpler on predictable surfaces, they can quickly come a cropper when asked to change floors or cross rough ground. With quadrupeds, “if one leg goes out of balance, it can keep the balance with the other three legs,” Afsari says.
The ability to walk pretty much anywhere without impediment means the first uses of the technology are monitoring sites. Boston Dynamics touts Spot’s prowess in progress-monitoring and capturing ‘as-built’ conditions on construction sites, while its systems can also combine 3D scans with building information modelling (Bim) to identify potential clashes or deviations.
But what makes the McClaren technology new is the addition of AI through the partnership with FieldAI. Its software is designed to allow machines to work without prior maps, GPS or predefined routes, meaning a robot can free-roam across a site. “We now have autonomous robots navigating stairs, doors and other obstacles, and constantly working with our human teams to support productivity, safety and quality,” said McLaren Construction’s pre-construction director, Adam Nicholson, in a statement.
Afsari says autonomy remains one of the biggest blockers in the broader use of bots. Her research group has tested Spot robots on three construction sites and seen useful results, but she says the machines still have limitations. Price is one of them: Afsari says Spot cost about $70,000, with an additional annual support package costing around $22,000. Cheaper quadrupeds entering the market may bring those figures down, she says, but the business case still depends on the robot saving enough inspection time, rework or travel to justify itself.
There are also potential future costs if, while roaming autonomously, a bot damages a building or piece of equipment. “Who’s in charge?” Afsari asks. She argues that deployment needs its own hazard identification, operating procedures and clear rules about who is responsible when something goes wrong. “These robots improve safety, but these are machines,” she says. “Around any machines, new hazards are created.”
FieldAI says future uses could expand into site logistics, including material manipulation through coordination of multiple robots. But Afsari sees the longer-term future in teams of different machines, with quadrupeds, drones and eventually other robot types covering the jobs best suited to their form.
Deploying these bots could also bring a broader range of people into the construction workforce. Afsari points out that the physical nature of sites can exclude people with mobility disabilities from some jobs. However, if a quadruped can be used remotely, someone who might not be able to traverse an unfinished building could instead inspect it from a safe distance. “It is not only helpful to the current workforce, but we can attract a workforce that has mobility disabilities,” she says.
That is also why she rejects the idea that quadrupeds are straightforward replacements for construction workers. “These robots are not going to replace humans,” she says. “They’re going to help humans do their task better.”
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