Willingness to Adopt Robotics and Construction Automation in the South African Construction Industry (original) (raw)

Barriers to Automation and Robotics in Construction

EPiC Series in Built Environment

Automation and robotics have been widely adopted across many industries, but the construction industry has not achieved the same level of diffusion. Construction is a critical global industry that is challenged to address issues of productivity, safety, quality, and profitability. Automation and robotics have a tremendous potential impact on all these fronts. The objective of this study is to identify barriers to the adoption of automation and robotics in the construction industry as perceived by industry experts and answer the research question: What are the barriers to automation and robotics in construction? We gain understanding through exploratory interviews with industry practitioners and automation and robotics researchers. Semi-structured interviews around construction technologies, implementation and development, perceived barriers, and future trends and opportunities provide insight into those barriers. We expected to find that implementation would be related to company re...

The Level of awareness of automation technology in the construction industry

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2019

The rapid development of infrastructure in a developing country like Nigeria may require the construction industry to totally embrace the innovative and advance technique of construction through the adoption of automation technology, so as to make construction project more valuable, enhance projects performance and stay competitive in the global and international industry. This study is strictly tailored towards investigating the level of awareness of the automation technique identified in the literature review section of this study. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design using a quantitative approach. A total of 191 construction professionals which include majorly the Architect, Builder, Engineer and Quantity Surveyor were the respondents for the study using a well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed on a five (5) point Likert-type scale having 5 sections of question in all. Data analysis were done using MIS, SD, Kruskal-Wallis and SNK Test. Twenty ...

Preparedness of the Indian Construction Industry to Adapt to Robotics and Automation

IOSR Journals , 2019

The Indian construction sector plays a key role in India’s economic development and nation-building through infrastructure projects and facilities and real estate development. Unlike the western world which is seeing an increasing utilization of robotics and automation in construction (RAC) India lags in the use of robotics and automation in construction. The objective of this research was to study the current awareness of robotics and automation in Indian construction industry and to determine the acceptability, and perception of adaptability and feasibility of robotics and automation in the construction industry. Primary data collected from 398 construction industry project engineers through a structured questionnaire was used to test the results through factor analysis and hypotheses testing. The findings reveal that the general perception is that robotics and automation are considered to be the same by the practicing construction industry professionals and that RAC is considered suitable for a developing country like India and that there is awareness about the benefits of adaptability and usage of robots in construction but at the same time several resistance factors emerge and these barriers will have to be overcome for successful adaption of RAC in India.

PLS-SEM assessment of the impediments of robotics and automation deployment for effective construction health and safety

Journal of Facilities Management

Purpose The importance of robotics and automation (R&A) in delivering a safe built environment cannot be overemphasised. This is because R&A systems can execute a hazardous job function that the construction workforce may not execute. Based on this knowledge, this study aims to present the result of an assessment of the impediments to the deployment of R&A for a safe and healthy construction environment. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a post-positivist philosophical stance, using a quantitative research approach and a questionnaire administered to construction professionals in South Africa. The data gathered were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean item score, Kruskal–Wallis H-test, exploratory factor analysis and partial least square structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings This study revealed that the impediments to the deployment of R&A could be grouped into: industry, technology, human and cost-related factors. However, SEM assessment showed that only...