Constructability assessment for robotics in construction

Advances in construction robotics represent a potential shift in building design and construction. In general, construction robotics are usually deployed directly onto construction sites without systematically evaluating the design constructability for robotic applications. Literature on constructability suggests that ignoring it during design will cause rework, inefficiency, and higher cost. Although previous studies have widely discussed design constructability, they mainly focus on traditional human craft-based construction methods. Whereas a gap still exists in design constructability assessment for construction robotics. This paper presents an initial analytical framework for constructability assessment for construction robotics during the design phase. Specifically, we summarize factors that impact robotic constructability based on robotic features, design features, work constraints, and piloted an automated constructability checking system for robotics. Additionally, this study takes CANVAS, a drywall finishing robot, as case study to create a framework in simulation environment, and the results demonstrate the potential value of the proposed framework.