Canada doesn’t have enough construction workers to address the country’s housing crisis. That labour shortage is slowing projects and driving up costs. And it’s only going to get worse, with 245,100 current workers in the sector expected to retire within the next decade , fewer young people willing to take their place and a growing population looking for housing.
“There just aren’t enough people to do the tasks that need to be done,” says entrepreneur Craig Buntin. That’s why he founded Rise to develop AI and robotics solutions for the construction industry. “We’re looking to make one single person be able to do the work of 10.”
To bring that vision to life, Buntin partnered with McGill University engineering professor Yi Shao. Shao is developing machines to do time-consuming, labour-intensive assembly jobs — like installing building facades, framing houses or putting together the rebar cages that strengthen concrete.
Those AI robots have to meet some daunting requirements. They must be mobile, moving from spot to spot to gather and install materials. That means having the ability to navigate complex construction sites — and every site is different.
They must be able to handle variations in materials, whether it’s different types of rebar or slightly longer or shorter 2x4s depending on who’s operating the circular saw that day.
The robots have to be lightweight enough to easily deploy on site. They need a high degree of sensitivity and accuracy to pick up materials and put them in place — “one of the most challenging tasks in the robotics field,” Shao notes. And, of course, they have to be affordable.
Advancing the robotic revolution
To date, Shao and his team of nearly 20 undergrads, PhD students and post-docs have made impressive progress in meeting all those criteria. In one corner of his lab, a robot arm methodically picks up rebar components from a pile on the floor, orients them correctly and then slots them into a waiting frame with more than 95 percent accuracy. In another corner, a second arm is installing facades.
CFI funding is crucial for his research, Shao says, allowing him to acquire lightweight robot arms equipped with force sensors and computer vision, as well as the carts that enable the arms to move around. “While there are researchers who are trying to do construction automation, I believe our lab has a unique approach of embracing mobility, intelligence, light weight and affordability,” he says.
Shao predicts that an initial prototype could be deployed on construction sites within two years. Testing the robots in real-world conditions will allow his research team to gather data and make improvements — and, ultimately, apply what they’ve learned to other construction tasks.
That makes partnerships essential, Shao says. “It’s critically important for research labs to collaborate with industry … We want real feedback, real challenges.”
Meanwhile, Buntin is hugely excited by the technology’s commercial potential. “We really feel that robotics and artificial intelligence will give us tools that will allow us to build houses faster and less expensively,” he says. “This is the next industrial revolution.”
The research project featured in this story also benefits from funding from Mitacs and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
