TyBOT

Equipment Today and ForConstructionPros.com have announced TyBot as one of 2021's  Top 50 New Products Award Winners. Advanced Construction Robotics is proud to add this distinguished award to its trophy case and to have TyBot named among such a distinguished group of innovative new products.

Award Winners were selected based on total page views and inquiries on ForConstructionPros.com. We would like to send a special thank you to Equipment Today, ForConstructionPros.com, and the readers that selected TyBot as one of 2021’s Top 50 New Products! We look forward to continuing to advance the industry with innovative new solutions.

Read More on ConstructionPros.com here: 2021 Contractors’ Top 50 New Products Award Winners

Be sure to stay up to date on the developments at TyBot/ACR by following our social media pages.

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TyBOT’s cameras map out the rebar grid work area ahead and identify the intersections that need to be tied. The Tram independently positions the Tie Module over the next intersection, allowing the module to complete its assigned tie while TyBOT keeps track of the intersections it has completed. This cycle of mapping, positioning, tying and tracking efficiently continues until the entire work area has been completed and TyBOT notifies its Robot Supervisor before moving forward to continue operations.

TyBOT does all of this without Pre-Mapping, Pre-Programming or BIM Input.

It is just that simple! While TyBOT handles the backbreaking, repetitive task of bulk-tying your project’s rebar grid, your crew is free to move on to the project’s next critical path item.

Would you like to see TyBOT at your office or Jobsite? Schedule your Demo HERE.

2022 TyBOT Roadshow Schedule:

• Jan/Feb 2022: Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina & South Carolina
• Spring 2022:   Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia & Maryland
• Summer 2022:  Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota & Iowa

If you are not located in one of the states that our team is currently scheduled to visit, we can arrange a fully interactive Virtual Demonstration from our Indoor Bridge Deck in Pittsburgh, PA and broadcast conveniently to you wherever you may be located.

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Construction industry has burst into a flurry of activity as the most aggressive infrastructure spending initiative since the 1950s was signed into law on Monday. Combined with a skilled labor shortage, the $550 Billion bill calls into question whether contractors have the capacity to meet rapidly growing demand. Innovative contractors across the nation are turning to new technology for help. Robots as a new class of equipment are proving to be an effective complement to human crews and will be essential to completing the projects laid out within the infrastructure bill.

Woman-owned Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Shelby Erectors is an example of the effective usage of robotics on the jobsite to contractors across the country. Contracted for rebar installation on the 512,427 sqft I-95 Express Phase 3C project in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Shelby elected to utilize TyBOT by Advanced Construction Robotics to boost crew productivity. TyBOT, a rebar tying robot, leverages cutting edge artificial intelligence to tie together the rebar grid that commonly reinforces concrete surfaces. While TyBOT is actively tying rebar, Shelby’s laborers are free to handle more skilled tasks better suited for human hands.

Shelby stands tall in the industry as an example of how to adapt to modern challenges, and its President, Jennifer Nix, is positioning her company to meet the labor demands of the new infrastructure bill. “TyBot is definitely a lifesaver when labor availability is lacking. It provides a level of consistency that's difficult to match and is why we’re currently using it on 3 separate concrete bridge construction projects across Florida.” Nix says, “TyBot removes the repetitive, back-breaking work that can cause serious long-term injuries, and anything we can do to improve our crews’ health and safety is a huge priority for us. TyBOT allows us to safely stay on schedule while shorthanded and to move our workforce on to higher-skilled tasks or to another jobsite where they can be better utilized.” The I-95 Express Project has become a landmark in the application of new technologies on major infrastructure projects. It is among the first projects in the world to address the labor shortage with cutting-edge robotic technology.

ACR is excited to call Shelby Erectors our integration partner. For many years our co-founders have observed the industry and have watched the labor gap growing. With this new infrastructure initiative, the shortage is accelerating at an alarming rate. Co-Founder Jeremy Searock is seeing his vision for the company become reality, saying “ACR was founded for moments like this. Our robots will continue to solve today’s construction challenges assisting the workforce to meet rapidly growing demand, such as what will be generated from the infrastructure bill.” ACR believes robotics can and will come to the rescue of crews struggling to close the growing labor gap. In order to complete the Billions in new projects, partnerships like those between Shelby and ACR will be absolutely essential.

Nix says “As the labor gap in construction continues to grow with increasing demand, it is crucial to incorporate solutions like TyBot to mitigate the effects. We have found that TyBOT saves at least 25% on our rebar tying schedule. This provides a crucial edge when bidding projects, and project owners, typically DOT, often like to see innovative tech used. We will likely use TyBot on over half of our projects in the next 5 years.” The effectiveness of jobsite robotics on this project will be sure to be noticed as contractors scramble to address the flood of new infrastructure initiatives coming from Capitol Hill. The lesson is clear, useful robots are no longer science fiction. They are here and ready to do work today.

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A world-leading innovator of autonomous robotic equipment, Advanced Construction Robotics is transforming the construction industry by filling the skilled labor gap and increasing overall productivity. Our robots give construction firms the ability to meet a rapidly growing demand, improve safety, and reduces scheduling risks. TyBOT, ACR’s first product, is a rebar tying robot that self-navigates, self-ties, and does not require programming or build plan input from the working crew. TyBot’s partner, IronBot, will lift, carry, and install rebar when it comes to market in 2022.

Project Intro

The Koppel Bridge project was a $27 Million effort to replace the previous bridge. TyBOT performed bulk tying operations on this project in April of 2019 to assist the crews of Brayman Construction Corporation. The Koppel Bridge is located in rural Western Pennsylvania and serves as a crucial link between the towns of Koppel, and Ellwood City. It is a 4-span bridge that is 43 feet wide and 1,240 feet long. The new Koppel bridge opened in October of 2019.

Role in Project -

TyBOT® is an autonomous rebar tying robot that ties up to 1,000 intersections an hour. TyBOT deploys to any job site that has screed rails in place and will do the work of an average crew. TyBOT easily deploys anywhere in the country to work on horizontal reinforcing steel installation projects. TyBOT performed the bulk tie portion of the Koppel Bridge deck reinforcing steel installation for two out of the four spans of the bridge.

Description of Project -

The Koppel Bridge project, located in Koppel, PA, began in January 2017 and opened to traffic in October 2019. The bridge carries two 12 ft travel lanes and 8 ft shoulders. The deck of the Koppel Bridge consists of 1 million pounds of rebar and 6,000 cubic yards of concrete. The structural steel supporting the deck weighs approximately 4.3 million pounds.

Project Features/Advancements -

Manhour savings: 34%

Schedule savings: 34%

Brayman Construction Corporation (BCC) meticulously recorded production data for the deck reinforcing steel installation of the project so that this case study could provide meaningful results. While self-performing the rebar installation on two spans that did not utilize TyBot, BCC expended 20% of their total manhours on the bulk tie sub-activity that TyBOT would perform on the other two spans.

When TyBOT executed the bulk tie on these two spans, the data showed that BCC not only saved the expected 20% of manhours for bulk tying but also saved another 14% for a total savings of 34% of their budgeted manhours. These additional savings was attributed to a couple of different factors.

BCC chose to augment their deck rebar crew with TyBOT meaning they did not reduce the level of manpower performing the installation. Not having to perform the bulk tie sub-activity allowed the crew to focus manual efforts on the remaining sub-activities associated with deck rebar installation. This allowed these activities such as carrying and placing the rebar to occur faster and more efficiently.

The use of TyBOT also prompted the operations team to perform more pre-planning of the deck rebar work to ensure the time TyBOT was waiting on placed rebar to tie was minimized. Typically, deck rebar work planning is done in the field where the crew often reacts to the daily changes and challenges that are frequent on construction projects. When using TyBOT, the manual labor was very focused on planning the work to make sure that “the robot didn’t catch up to them”. This created a sense of competition between the robotic TyBOT and the crew, pushing the work along faster.

With BCC augmenting their crew with TyBOT, the project realized both a 34% manhour savings and a 34% savings in the duration of the work. Experiencing schedule and productivity improvements that result in manhour savings is a great example of the power of utilizing robots in construction. With widespread shortages in skilled labor, using TyBot to augment and not replace the rebar crew is the best way to accelerate projects, meet tough schedule constraints, and best utilize the skills of workers.

Who was/is Involved:

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation: CLIENT

Brayman Construction Corporation: MAIN CONTRACTOR

Advanced Construction Robotics: SUBCONTRACTOR

Awards

Associated Bridge for Construction & Design awarded the Koppel Bridge Project two awards:

(1) Outstanding New Major Bridge Award (Brayman Construction as the main contractor) (2) Outstanding New Special Purpose Structure Award for Permanent Sheet Pile Wall System – Brayman Construction (Brayman Construction as subcontractor & Trumbull as the main contractor)

Co-founders Jeremy Searock and Stephen Muck penned a letter to President Biden upon his visit to Pittsburgh to promote the Build Back Better Bill. Their message was clear. Construction has a labor shortage problem and robotic solutions can fill the gap to rebuild America’s infrastructure in a timely fashion.

Mr. President, Pittsburgh is the most important stop on your road trip to discuss the infrastructure bill.

That’s because without the work being done in Pittsburgh, the Build Back Better bill is still a dream. Construction simply does not have enough workers.

Our country is in the midst of a nationwide labor shortage. This is something the construction industry knows all too well. For several decades, the industry has faced a skilled labor shortage, one that is now approaching a crisis level. Some experts believe the U.S. needs more than 1 million construction workers just to handle work under development.

Now that the country plans to address its crumbling infrastructure, we need more than votes and workers — We need a “constructional revolution.” A revolution only made possible through the teaming of robotics and AI with skilled construction labor.

Luckily, that’s what’s happening here in Pittsburgh. We are proud to lead Advanced Construction Robotics, one of the many robotics companies in our region. This industry is pioneering solutions that will allow us to not only rebuild our infrastructure but also build a new economic sector.

Robotic solutions are not here to replace workers. They are here to fill the labor gap and provide safety, consistency, increased productivity, and build quicker. The trade unions agree. The younger generations love the idea of supervising a robot on the job site.

Robotics and AI can solve real world challenges like our labor shortage and infrastructure.

Mr. President, let’s get to work.

Mr. Searock and Mr. Muck's letter was included in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Here.