Robot Talk Episode 167 Explores Automating Construction with Robots, Featuring Jan Petrš

At a glance

In Episode 167 of Robot Talk, Jan Petrš from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and the startup Deplaya Robotics discussed new robot designs for architecture and construction. He is a researcher who studies robotics and architecture together.

Key points

1. 1

   Jan Petrš is a co-founder of Deplaya Robotics.

2. 2

   The company is developing a robot system that installs building facades (outer walls) automatically.

3. 3

   He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at EPFL's Intelligent Systems Lab, where he studied tensegrity robots (robots built from a structure of rods and cables).

4. 4

   He earned his PhD at the Czech Technical University, where he developed a system for architecture that combines shape-changing robots with soft robots.

Why it matters

When robots take over parts of construction work, they can reduce the burden of dangerous and exhausting tasks, which is why this topic draws interest.