The end of April saw two major announcements regarding humanoid robots, a technology the construction sector hopes can work with the human workforce to improve productivity.

Firstly, Tilbury Douglas announced onsite trials of its own humanoid robot, Douglas, a walking (not yet talking) robot that aims to spot defects and safety issues alongside site managers. Here, in the latest episode of the 21cc podcast, we speak to Mark Buckle, TD’s technical director, who tells us about the challenges he faced bringing Douglas to a potentially cynical workforce.

In the same week TD announced its site trials, CM attended the launch of ‘Leo’, a humanoid construction robot designed to carry out various site tasks that will be mass-produced as a service from 2030. Leo is the vision of IBE Humanoids Founder Vassos Chrysostomou, who we also hear from in the podcast, where he tells the gathered audience that the robot “will augment, rather than replace human judgement, skill and responsibility.”

Listen now to see if construction is on the cusp of solving its productivity dilemma.

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