A service robot for construction industry

Traditionally, building construction has been performed mainly by hand with a little help from electromechanical-manual devices. However, this industry possesses a great potential for automation and robotic systems are being introduced step by step because of many technical hitches. Apart from these technical shortcomings, builders are being pushed in many countries to provide automatic tools to improve both productivity and operator´s safety. This paper presents some technical aspects of a tool developed to help out operators in handling and installing pre-manufactured plaster panels for indoor-wall construction. It consists in a lightweight six-DOF manipulator, which is fixed between floor and ceiling so that it can carry heavy payloads without tipping over. The robot is easily assembled and disassembled to make possible transportation by operators. This paper presents the basic guidelines to configure a system for the mentioned activity. It includes the system´s main features and functions and some design aspects that makes this manipulator an example of how to configure a lightweight manipulators to handle heavy payloads