A video from Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) shows a prototype robot working on construction sites where there is a shortage of workers, according to New Atlas. Despite its slow pace, the robot is extremely accurate, which could suggest a more robotic future where humanoid robots replace human jobs.
In the video, the robot, HRP-5P, picks up a plaster board and screws it into a wall. On-site construction often resists robotic automation, and solely relies on human labor. Recently, more robots are being integrated into construction such as automatic brick-laying robots and robotic 3D-printers for construction parts. These pose an interesting solution to the construction industry where both robotics and humans could work side-by-side.
Although, the researchers who created HRP-5P are less interested on removing human workers, and more concerned in the decrease of labor workers.
“Along with the declining birthrate and the aging of the population, it is expected that many industries such as the construction industry will fall into serious manual shortages in the future, and it is urgent to solve this problem by robot technology,” the researchers wrote.