What if I told you this wall wasn’t built by human hands but rather a robot? This is what its developers call HEAP, or the Hydraulic Excavator for an Autonomous Purpose and it could change the way simple construction projects are done forever.
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00:00This wall might not look that impressive, but what if I told you this wasn't built
00:06by human hands, but rather a robot.
00:09This is what its developers call HEAP, or the Hydraulic Excavator for an Autonomous
00:13Purpose, and it could change the way simple construction projects are done forever.
00:18The construction robot has myriad sensors, which let it create a 3D map of the construction
00:22site in real time.
00:23It can then find stones and analyze those as well, determining their weight and center
00:27point of gravity, and then it can assemble them into a structure without human workers
00:31ever getting involved.
00:33What's more, its developers say it reduces overall emissions substantially as well.
00:37With one of HEAP's developers from ETH Zurich, Dr. Lauren Vasey, saying about it, quote,
00:41One such avenue is to rethink and reshape the embodied energy of material systems that
00:46are used in construction.
00:47In particular, developments in on-site robotic building methods offer the opportunity to
00:51leverage context-specific, locally sourced, or upcycled materials that are inexpensive,
00:57abundant, and low in embodied energy.
00:59This is no doubt in response to a metric revealed earlier this year, one that outlined how the
01:03cement industry is responsible for a whopping 8% of all CO2 emissions all on its own, meaning
01:09using AI to discover and repurpose materials to build new structures could be a climate
01:14game-changer.