In June, the famous autonomous robot dog from Boston Dynamics, named Spot, was released to the public for sale after several months of trials with strategic partners in the construction industry, among others. Just recently, FARO Technologies Inc, a 3D scanning and imaging solution, has launched an integration for Spot.
FARO has been working with Boston Dynamics since at least November of 2019, when their partnership was announced at Autodesk University. Back when we used to be able to interact with people in person, FARO would always bring a branded Spot with them to trade shows, like the aforementioned AU and the World of Concrete. I don’t know that the commercial construction industry has ever had a true celebrity, but the crowd of people that Spot tends to attract puts it towards the top of the list.
The integration between FARO and Spot is being called Trek, which is a fully autonomous way to create 3D scans of your jobsite. After an initially programming the walking route alongside a human operator with a remote control, Trek will utilize Spot’s Autowalk feature to walk the repeatable pattern, gathering imagery and data behind the scenes on a consistent and reliable schedule.
That’s really the biggest appeal of the robotic technology, at least at this point. It doesn’t take days off and it doesn’t have any other responsibilities, other than to walk the jobsite and collect data. It’s also highly equipped with sensors in order to avoid the ever changing obstacles of a construction site. That consistency should result in higher accuracy and more data to work with.
As shown in the picture and video above, the FARO Focus Laser Scanner is attached to the back of the robot. The scanner features a built-in 8 megapixel HDR camera, an IP 54 rating, and a 4.5 hour battery runtime. Once connected to a computer, the data is automatically registered to create a detailed model of your project.
"Reality capture has become more critical to on-schedule project delivery than ever before," said Brian Ringley, Boston Dynamics' Construction Technology Manager, in a press release. "The FARO Trek integration provides customers with the ability to document true as-built conditions of their site in a repeatable fashion. Because this high-frequency point cloud data collection is automatically aligned relative to project control points and BIM coordinate systems, it's easier than ever to maintain a continuously updated digital twin."
Full story: FARO® LAUNCHES TREK, THE AUTOMATED 3D LASER SCANNING INTEGRATION WITH BOSTON DYNAMICS SPOT® MOBILE ROBOT | FARO
Shane is the creator of Construction Junkie and an active construction project manager. In his career, he has managed interior remodel projects, site development, construction safety, governmental project compliance, and facility maintenance. He has a strong passion for construction technology and safety, as well as sharing the knowledge or insights he has gained throughout his career.