Will Robots Take Over The Construction Industry?
How many times have we heard politicians promising to bring back manufacturing jobs to the USA? Maybe I'm over thinking it, but unless you are making some really expensive items it's going to be a challenge to provide American workers minimum wage to stand on an assembly line and put key chains and such together. Come to think about it, there are some quite expensive items like all of Apple's products which have low material cost and sell for thousands or hundreds of dollars. Those components could be excellent to make in the usa and pay a decent wage to workers. But, wait, why make here when they are able to pay several hundred dollars a month to do it overseas? And and so the problem continues.
As sales manager for factory work facilities and Union store fixture I comprehend more than ever important labor unions are to our work force. With many Americans working than we see many corporations cutting shifts to less than 30 -hours so they are not eligible for health benefits. We're becoming a nation of part time workers, which is not likely to endure us to raise families and live the American dream.
Due to Labor Unions like the International Brotherhood of Carpenters, which we are members of, there are several safeguards. An honest wage for a day's work by skilled workers who are well - trained and focused on quality and safety.
We discuss the future of our kids along with the brand new generation in regards to what sorts of occupations will be accessible to them and frequently sit around. It's a growth industry, not only in the USA but abroad as well.
Many manufacturing jobs have been replaced by computers and robots. 100 human workers can be replaced by a bottling plant for a drink firm with a number of stations that are robotic and only 2 human workers to turn them on and off. More individuals unemployed by technology. Many young college graduates have studied robotics in the hopes to create a vocation because area. Now, here is the kicker (and it's real)... You can find companies which are really designing robots building robots that are capable of!
Now let us get onto construction! Well, I felt the exact same way until I found a startling new concept: Robotic construction workers and researched the robotics industry!
The robots were provided by engineers with building patterns, and after that left them alone. The TERMES assembled the structures by reacting to the other robots around Engineers--with no additional instruction from humans and observing.
Since Engineers work alone, a dozen TERMES or a hundred of these can execute precisely the same building plan. Because their directives are really so easy--put a brick down that fits in the building plan, where no one has set one down- little processing ability is required by them. Specially assembled bricks are used by the prototype TERMES to construct towers, castles, and pyramids. The researchers say they could also handle simple tasks like laying sandbags down before floods. Researchers say they could scale them up or down, while the prototype robots are about the dimensions of a desk phone.
Imagine building sites where robotics replace human workers. Construction workers and carpenters can be displaced by the robots as well as the websites requiring just minimum supervision.
While this technology is still in model, the reality is the fact that they have created the beginning stages of its growth. Future generations may very well have to address this specific new technology which will threaten those of us middle-aged carpenters' livelihood while they may not need to contend with R2D2 taking over our jobs.
My advice to those up-and-comers in the business....become a shop steward so you can watch over the robot workers!
There is an interesting video put out by Harvard that shows these Termes in action: http://youtu.be/LFwk303p0zY
About the author: Martin Chase is National Sales Director at Store Force, Inc., leading Union store fixture installers providing clients with fixture and mill work installations around the country. Martin can be reached at 631-672-3150 or by email at: unioninstallers@gmail.com
