Australian robotic technology company Fastbrick Robotics Limited (ASX:FBR) has announced that it will build a second Hadrian X in parallel with the current prototype under construction.
“Having a second Hadrian X will significantly de-risk the assembly and test phases of our revolutionary bricklaying robot,” says Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mike Pivac.
“By adopting leading edge assembly and construction practices from the aeronautical and defence sectors, where building two or more parallel prototypes is the norm, having a second prototype will lead to more streamlined and improved outcome enabling simultaneous testing and more durability testing in a fixed time frame.”
“The Hadrian X prototypes will allow the engineering team to test the robots alongside each other, applying what they have learned during assembly and de-bugging the whole process,” Pivac says. “We’re also performing exhaustive 3D virtual testing and digital simulation for components and have begun procuring items such as hydraulic systems, motors and a latest generation laser-tracking system.”
The goal is for Hadrian X to be able to construct the brick component of a house within three days by laying up to 1,000 bricks an hour, 24 hours a day.
“The house will be in accordance with the one outlined in our 2015 IPO”, Pivac says. “It will have a minimum of three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a minimum floorplan of 180 square metres, all built within 72 hours.”
Fastbrick has already attracted major global interest, signing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
Caterpillar invested USD$2 million and was recently granted approval by Fastbrick shareholders to invest a further USD$8 million. Fastbrick and Caterpillar are progressing towards a strategic alliance that chooses the most appropriate path to commercialisation for the Hadrian X. This includes identifying early adopters in key global markets that will use Hadrian X in our pilot programmes.
One such early adopter is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The MOU with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contemplates the construction of a minimum of 50,000 new homes using 100 Hadrian X robots. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a new home building target of 1.5 million new homes by 2022 and Fastbrick could be instrumental in helping it realise this goal.
“Having a second prototype will also allow us to pursue our Customer Discovery Strategy more aggressively,” Pivac says. It will mean that we can potentially have two pilot programmes operating in separate geographical markets. In addition to Saudi Arabia, we are now exploring pilot programmes with other early adopters.”
In order to deal with the company’s rapid expansion, Fastbrick moved to a new purpose-built facility in April and has made a number of new hires.
“The size of our team has roughly doubled in the last year. It’s extraordinary,” Pivac says. “Fastbrick is growing fast and we are moving into a very exciting phase for the Company.”
