A Path to a Modern Workforce

May 24

If you work with concrete, you’ve probably dreamed of having the machines made by today’s guest.

Danielle Proctor is President and CEO of Construction Robotics, which makes two large and impressive rebar-related machines: IronBOT, which places rebar, and TyBOT, which ties that rebar.

Countless construction workers have put in their time tying rebar before moving on to other less backbreaking and repetitive work. Eddie opens with a bit of nostalgia for his rebar-tying days and mentions this Dirty Jobs episode on tying rebar.

We move on to a discussion about the main challenge that comes with huge new tools like these: pre-purchase logistics. It seems like it would be incredibly hard to do a trial run with one of these things.

Danielle explains that the objections from rebar-tying crews is not as great as you might think. It’s really tough work, and many of the people who are doing it are more than ready to move on to a different set of duties. Due to labor shortages, that would often be helpful to a crew and a project.

We discuss the pride issues associated with the generational legacy of the old-school rod-busters and how they adjusted when the tie gun came along.

IronBOT can handle 5,000 pounds of rebar while executing its work. Handled by hand, Danielle says that a bundle of five 60’ bars requires “One bar for each man and one for the company.”

Danielle makes the case that these machines don’t eliminate the need for a crew of humans. You still need…

A robot supervisor (just to watch the robot and provide a couple instructions)
A rodbuster feeding the bar into the robot
4-6 people behind tying the few pieces that the robot can’t tie
1 guy frame-tying

Once the crew sees the robot as part of the team, the mindset changes. Danielle says she enjoys seeing companies move through the adjustment process and adopt the machine as part of the culture of the company. Then company leaders really begin to see the benefits. They start estimating jobs with the machine’s efficiencies in mind.

Tyler mentions this video about the toll that physically demanding jobs have on the body.

At first we laugh about the tool envy factor, but then Eddie raises the fact that it really is a thing among contractors and that it’s part of what moves innovation along.

We discuss capabilities and setup time. Danielle explains that the TyBOT comes in on a 40’ trailer. The crew assembles it on its rails, choosing gantries that can handle widths from 9’ to 107’. This process takes about an hour. Then you simply turn it on and let it do its thing. It looks for intersections and ties them. There’s no programming, no BIM. It carries 15-pound spools.

IronBOT, on the other hand, takes 6-8 hours to get it in place. Then you load the specs (spacing, etc.) and it does its thing.

“Certified innovators” look at the project plans and try to configure optimized “bundle plans.” These people are also the ones who work with contractors during the estimating process.

We discuss the comparisons between human team speeds and machine speeds. Danielle says that a project isn’t a good fit for these machines unless it would be a 1-week job manually for TyBOT or 2 weeks manually for an IronBOT/TyBOT project.

Danielle explains that her company’s focus is optimization for productivity to free up human crews to make better use of their time.

Danielle’s Megaphone Message: We are in the middle of a robotic renaissance. Take the blinders off and have some fun. Go see what’s out there. Ask yourself where automation can help. Support the companies that are innovating with technology that’s here to help.

Find Danielle Online: LinkedIn - Advanced Construction Robotics

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