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BRIX robotic system brings automation to masonry by combining electric rover, collaborative arm, navigation sensors, and augmented reality to build walls on real sites, changing the work routine without removing human supervision from the construction process.
A robotic system called BRIX was presented as a full-scale prototype to automate part of the construction of masonry walls directly on the construction site, combining an autonomous electric rover, collaborative robotic arm, LiDAR sensors, stereo cameras, and augmented reality features under human supervision.
The proposal was described in the scientific article “BRIX: an autonomous system for brick wall construction,” published in the journal Construction Robotics, by Pierpaolo Ruttico, Matteo Pacini, and Carlo Beltracchi, as a lightweight, programmable solution aimed at real construction environments.
The system does not function as a humanoid robot that fully replaces the bricklayer, but as a mobile platform capable of moving around the construction space, positioning a mechanical arm, and performing repetitive tasks of handling and laying pieces with operator supervision.
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BRIX robot changes the masonry routine
The main change is in the reorganization of masonry work.
Instead of concentrating all execution on the manual effort of picking up, transporting, and positioning bricks successively, BRIX transfers part of this routine to a machine controlled and monitored by people.
This logic transforms the worker into a technical supervision operator, responsible for monitoring the assembly progress, observing safety conditions, checking equipment behavior, and intervening when necessary to keep the process within defined parameters.
The prototype brings together technologies already known in other industrial sectors but adapted to a more unstable environment than a factory.
On the site, materials change places, walls appear during execution, people circulate, and obstacles may arise as the construction progresses.
Autonomous Electric Rover Operates on Construction Site
To handle this variation, the authors designed a mobile electric base equipped with four independent traction and steering wheels, airless tires, rechargeable lithium batteries, and industrial control electronics, with a total reported weight of approximately 650 kg.
The structure allows lateral movements, rotations on its own axis, diagonal movements, and fine positioning adjustments, important features to bring the robotic arm closer to the work area without relying on rails or a pre-installed fixed infrastructure.
A collaborative Fanuc CRX-25iA robotic arm is installed on the rover, used to pick and position pieces during wall assembly.
According to the technical description, the set alternates phases of platform movement with phases of mechanical arm operation.
LiDAR Sensors and 3D Cameras Guide Navigation
Navigation combines different perception sources.
The BRIX uses LiDAR to map the environment in point clouds, stereo cameras with 3D perception to identify objects, wheel encoders, and RTK differential GPS to support the machine’s spatial location.
This data is processed to guide routes and positioning adjustments in a space that does not remain static.
Adaptation to the site is one of the differences pointed out by researchers compared to systems that depend on highly structured environments.
Augmented reality acts as a tool for interaction between operators and the robot.
The article describes the use of Holo2 to support the definition of safety zones and operation supervision, allowing digital information to be visualized during work monitoring.
Augmented Reality Strengthens Human Supervision
In practice, the technology reinforces a model of collaboration between people and machines, where the operator does not disappear from the task.
Human presence remains necessary for supply, control, validation, safety, and decision-making in out-of-standard situations.
The study also compares BRIX to other attempts to automate masonry, such as rail systems, heavy industrial arms, and large equipment.
Among the limitations cited for previous solutions are high initial cost, difficulty of integration, and low flexibility in real construction projects.
According to the authors, BRIX was designed to tackle some of these obstacles with a fully electric design, commercially available components, and a simpler architecture to calibrate and program, although the investment is still considered high for small and medium-sized companies.
Construction Automation Still Depends on Operators
The collaborative nature also appears as a central point of the proposal.
Both the rover and the robotic arm were designed to operate alongside workers, shifting more repetitive and physically demanding activities to the machine, without eliminating the need for qualified human supervision.
Integration tests involved the mobile platform, the robotic arm, the vision system, and the mechanisms for handling the pieces.
The development included activities in Lucca, at Sigma Ingegneria, and in Lecco, at the Indexlab of Politecnico di Milano.
After this stage, the demonstrator was presented at a construction industry fair in Bari, Italy, as a proof of the system’s feasibility.
The scientific publication, however, does not describe BRIX as a commercial machine already widely adopted.
Sustainability and Safety Enter the Evaluation
The evaluation also included the CARSAM method, an acronym for Construction Automation and Robotics for Sustainability Assessment Method, used to examine environmental, social, technological, and economic dimensions of advanced technologies applied to construction.
According to the researchers’ approach, systems of this type can reduce heavy physical efforts, improve safety practices, and shift some functions from the construction site to more technical activities, related to supervision, programming, control, and data-assisted operation.
Even so, automated masonry does not eliminate essential stages of the construction process.
Design, materials, quality control, compatibility with other systems of the project, and professional supervision remain crucial for the wall to be executed as planned.
BRIX shows that brick wall construction can move beyond just a manual sequence of repetitive movements and start operating with sensors, autonomous navigation, collaborative arms, and digital interfaces integrated into the daily routine of the construction site.
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