BotBuilt's AI robots cut homebuilding costs, boost efficiency
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A North Carolina builder's partnership with an AI-driven robotics company is reshaping the homebuilding landscape, promising significant savings in both time and costs.
Story Highlights BotBuilt uses AI and robots to cut housing construction costs.
Capo Construction first utilized BotBuilt's technology in North Carolina.
BotBuilt has produced materials for over 35 homes since 2020.
Capo Construction was the first builder in North Carolina to utilize BotBuilt, a robotics company that uses artificial intelligence to create precisely cut building materials.
'We wanted to improve the quality and precision of our framing, reduce material waste and speed up the framing process,' said Randy Newcomer, president of Capo Construction, which builds single-family custom and spec homes in and around Moore County. 'We try to keep our homes affordable for [homebuyers], anyone from the professional working family to the retiree who wants to keep some of their money to enjoy golf and not spend it all on their retirement home.'
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Affordability is the prime objective at BotBuilt, and they're achieving cost reductions through efficiencies in materials as well as labor optimization.
'The bottom line is we're building homes with robots,' explained Brent Wadas, CEO of Durham-based BotBuilt. 'Realistically speaking, we're trying to cut the cost of housing construction [in] half and 10 times the speed through automation systems.'
The topic of affordable housing has never been more timely: Last year the cost of goods used in the construction of new residential units hit $204 billion according to the National Association of Home Builders, and $14 billion of that total was for construction materials being imported into the U.S.
Focused on the lumber needed to build a home, BotBuilt can take any two-dimensional PDF blueprint plan and turn it into essentially a framing model.
'Every stud, every nail, every piece of sheathing, it's all right there and the AI visualizes it for you,' said Wadas, joking that he likes to call the company's creation of wall panels 'Ikea for homebuilding.'
It simplifies the process and eliminates wasted material, he said.
'Rather than over-buying on your lumber or over-buying on your labor, you can frame a whole house in a matter of hours with just a couple of people,' Wadas said.
Where it becomes most interesting, in his estimation, is that the company has built custom tools utilizing industrial arm robots. And with AI dictating the robots' choices, they build the framing package with basic stud-grade lumber — so the wood may be bent, bowed, warped, twisted — and is available at the price point consumers need.
These are big tools, literally 2,500-pound industrial arms that were formerly in automotive manufacturing.
'We buy them used on eBay; the latest ones that we have are from the BMW plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina,' he said.
Robotics that age out of their usefulness in automotive plants can be calibrated to BotBuilt systems and work perfectly with the stud-grade lumber being used.
Since starting in 2020, BotBuilt has produced materials for over 35 homes, from North Carolina to Arkansas, including 14 homes for one of the largest private homebuilders in the country. A spokesperson for the builder, which did not want its name published, said they have used BotBuilt's wall panels as well as its pre-cut framing lumber.
'We see using BotBuilt as an advantage in several phases of the construction process. Since they use AI to analyze our plans, they have found areas of our plans that can be improved,' the spokesperson said. 'Additionally, even if we do not use their panels for construction, their AI provides a huge value in fine-tuning our purchasing.'
AI was the starting point for BotBuilt and underpins every piece of technology being utilized.
'Our bespoke AI was all built in-house as part of our patent system and it is what builds out the 2D to 3D modeling system,' Wadas said. 'That computer vision is vital because if you've got an eight-foot plank that's bowed seven inches over that eight feet, the robot does a lot of math to understand what will bring it back in and what's going to happen on the opposite end to fix that.'
Closer Look
Co-founders: Barrett Ames, Colin Devine, Brent Wadas
Barrett Ames, Colin Devine, Brent Wadas Address: 3161 Hillsborough Road, Durham
3161 Hillsborough Road, Durham Website: botbuilt.com
botbuilt.com Founded: 2020
2020 Investment to date: $12.4 million
$12.4 million Employees: 25
25 Robots in plant: 10
The market demand for construction wall panels is strong and by next year Wadas expects the team will be producing roof trusses as well. BotBuilt has already submitted its patent application for those.
'Rather than wonder how much materials you have to buy for a home, our robots pick and cut exactly what is needed, we know up front, when the first design goes through, how much it will actually cost. We increase the actual knowns and save time in the construction, so it decreases the overall cost of homebuilding,' Wadas said.
A major factor in construction costs is the labor needed. Custom homebuilder Newcomer noted that unemployment in the construction industry has been low for some time.
'Most people aren't looking for skilled labor jobs anymore and, while there have been efforts to push trades, we are still facing a labor shortage,' he said. 'A majority of the framing on a home is done by subcontractors who are largely immigrants, and we have more restrictions on labor moving in and out of the country so [neither] labor costs or material costs will be coming down. BotBuilt is addressing both of these areas by speeding up the process, thereby reducing the need for as many workers and the time it takes per house.'
The company has over 2,000 homes on back order and has received investments totaling $12.5 million, with a Series A fundraiser underway to bring in another $15 million. Wadas expects to expand the current 'staff' of 10 robots to around 100 robots, although the current headcount of 25 full-time employees won't need to grow much higher because one person can operate five to 10 robots.
He's bullish on the opportunity to bring more affordable housing to markets around the country and beyond. Recently he was in Tokyo meeting with 'some of Japan's largest homebuilders' to explore potential investment and collaboration.
'There are also several used robotics distributors here [in Japan] that we want to discuss partnerships with,' he said.
Ultimately, Wadas sees potential to franchise BotBuilt.
'We'll be selling the license rights to use our custom software and hardware integrations to component manufacturers and builders throughout the world,' he said. 'This lets them use our systems in their facilities to build faster, safer and with greater precision, without changing the material or the people they work with.
About this project: 52 Shades of Success – The Impact of AI explores the challenges and opportunities of individuals and businesses that are trying to leverage the capabilities of artificial intelligence with an eye on combatting bias in its functionality. We'll focus on AI's impact on various areas of business and life.
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