Watch a robot excavator controlled like a videogame

SRI

Okay, I admit it, I never outgrew the Tonka toys and the sandbox. With the dawning of a new age of construction robots, that fascination has merely transferred to the high-tech descendants of those big yellow construction machines. 

For example, I could watch this robot excavator dig all day.

The truth is, you're going to be watching a lot of robots at work soon. That's because the construction industry is facing an unprecedented transformation as workers retire and competition heats up for more efficient building processes. While you may not be a construction worker, you should pay close attention, as this sector is a bellwether for the quickening march of automation.

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Enter the robots. Amid a proliferation of project management-abetting drones and robotic grid line drawing, rebar setting, and scaffolding constructing concepts, there's also an emerging market for big machinery that operates without a human sitting in the driver's seat. 

Cue the future of excavation, which is remotely operated and automated. Complex machinery, like excavators, requires trained professionals to get the job done in a safe, timely manner. 

While excavators speed up the work, traditional models raise safety concerns and have unintuitive controls that must be operated manually within the vehicle. In a tight labor market, and with rising building demands, that poses a problem for construction firms.

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