FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Here we provide answers to some of the frequently asked questions regarding this project, and/or provide links to the places in the proposal where these questions are answered.

Who is this project proposal addressed to?

What investment is required to achieve commercialization?

How long will it take to achieve commercialization?

What is the value of this project to investors?

What technology and expertise do Revcad have to offer?

What partners do Revcad need to complete the project?

What is the cost of construction robots?

What is the future potential of this technology?

  Who is this project proposal addressed to?

Revcad are seeking a single exclusive investment partner who will help to gather a consortium of other partners required for the commercialization of the project. These additional partners may also become investors in the project. This includes five parties with Revcad as the key software developer of the new technology, a robot designer/manufacturer, a building design company, a construction company, and optionally a steel company. Any of these companies can potentially become the main investor and partner with us in this technology. For further information on the anticipated roles of these partners in the project, see the follow links.

Project Partners

Work to achieve commercialization

  What investment is required to achieve commercialization?

The actual level of investment required for this project has not been discussed here because there are a number of options regarding which route is taken. These include variations from the fast track where all the new technologies develop together, to a more step by step approach where each stage of the technology development happens sequentially and is carefully proven. All of this will be put forward for discussion with potential investors. However we do provide some discussion on the software development work required using the investment to complete our part of the technology by the fast track - see the following links.

Investment

  How long will it take to achieve commercialization?

Revcad have proposed the Canopy as the first building project target using this technology. This building design is generated parametrically by our software. The Canopy is expected to be of interest to many cities around the world as both an iconic and functional structure. If this building is the first main target of development, we have estimated that we can advance the software from the proof of concept stage to the ready for commercialization stage in 12 months given the necessary programming support/staff required. Beyond this, the robotic hardware must be developed to achieve commercialization which we expect to take 2 years, but this can run concurrently with the software development if we take the fast track approach.

Canopy Building Design Idea (Images)

Canopy Design - Details (Images/Video)

  What is the value of this project to investors?

Estimates of the monetary value of this project to investors have not been given here and our estimates are reserved for direct discussions with potential investors. However the potential returns are immense - in the region of $Billions. Some of the reasons for this are: this technology will make possible huge city scale building projects that would otherwise be impossible without it; once we have a build solution for any building it can be easily repeated around the world; health and safety concerns are minimized by the use of robots; multiple robots can work continuously to achieve a very fast result.

This describes the technological potential of the project.

Here we propose two initial building designs for automated construction that we anticipate to be of significant interest to cities around the world and are easily repeatable in different locations using this technology.

Canopy design

Elevated sports stadium design

  What technology and expertise do Revcad have to offer?

Revcad are uniquely placed to achieve this technology development. This stems from the products we have developed over more than 27 years; the experience we have in engineering disciplines; our experience in complex virtual mechanism software development (virtual engines and gearboxes design and analysis); the fact that we have already brought the project to the point of proof-of-concept and can demonstrate the main elements - some of which are: building design; tube manufacturing; robot design; robot control for construction.

Here is a list of the software technology that can be demonstrated

Tube Steeler - Tube steel design software

Software technology capability

History of the technological foundations Revcad have

Outline of the capability of robots and software under development

  What partners do Revcad need to complete the project?

The first point to make is that this project will lead to the opening of many new possibilities for automated building construction, so in this sense the development will be ongoing. However, the first point of completion will be the point at which we can begin generating revenue using the technology.

To get to the point of commercialization will require several things...

First, the completion of the software to produce a build solution for the first building - probably the Canopy, and then to complete the software to drive the robots to perform the build.

Second, the robotic hardware must be developed, which will require the participation of companies with robot design and manufacturing expertise, whose long term interest will be to manufacture and sell the robots for the builds.

Third, it will require the participation of building designers to validate the designs and obtain contracts from cities to build these building. They will also take responsibility for designing the foundations and all that is required to dock the robots and manufacture the tube.

Finally it will require the involvement of a construction company to actually manage the build, including laying foundations, managing the flow of materials (tubes), and maintenance of robots.

Optionally there is also potential for partnership with one or more steel companies to supply the tube steel, who may obtain supply rights in return for investment.

Much of the work of these partners can run concurrently, and there are quite a number of options and variations that can be implemented, including Revcad taking any of these responsibilities directly where necessary, or preferred.

Partners

Work to achieve commercialization?

  What is the cost of construction robots?

A typical industrial robot in the top range can cost from $100K to $150K USD. But the size of robots required for a project will depend on the size of the building, so there is no definitive answer for all cases. We can however estimate the requirement for the Canopy building with an arch span of around 200 metres. For this building the size of the robots are huge, but at the same time optimized to be as light as possible in terms of shape and materials. A single robot for this purpose is estimated to be equivalent to approximately 6 typical industrial robots given the degrees of freedom it needs to climb. This fixes the max estimated cost at around $750K USD. For the Canopy building project it is likely to require 4 main free-ranging robots, plus 4 normal industrial machines for manufacturing the tubes, at an estimated cost of $250K each. This brings the total estimated robot plant cost required for the project to around $5.5M USD. However, given the research and development nature of the project at this stage, an allowance of 100% variation must be made, which means the potential cost of plant could be as much as $11.0M USD. Of course these robots should have a life that is similar to normal industrial equipment, like bulldozers and excavators, so they can be reused for many building projects. If we estimate a Canopy build takes 3 months for the robots to complete, a minimal estimate of a 3 year life span would mean it can complete 12 Canopy builds, setting the cost for all robotic plant for each build from $0.5M to $1.0M. In reality the robots may last much longer and be less expensive to build them, so this estimate is probably a worst case.

Of course this costing precludes the development cost of these robots, but this cost will be borne by the robotics partner who will develop the robots with a view to selling them globally for use on these building projects.

Given that the robots replace the need for cranes and much of the other heavy plant equipment normally used on a project like this, the comparative cost is very low. Then if we consider that the robots perform the building erection, so the manpower requirement is low, and the need for health and safety precautions is very low, then we can see that the use of robots represents a massive saving on conventional construction methods.

  What is the future potential of this technology?

The initial target of this technology is to generate build solutions for specific buildings (Canopy, Elevated Sports Stadium) to begin commercialization of the technology. Beyond this it can be expanded to generate other tubular steel buildings, or import them, and automatically generate a build solution using the new software. We anticipate ongoing work for Revcad to develop more parametric building designs so these designs can be sized and have different variation options for quick application to new cities and settings.

The technology has further potential for the robotic building of structures other than tube steel by using the robots to build scaffolds using tube steel, and then erect the building with other materials underneath it.

Looking even further forward, once the technology is mature, though ambitious there is the exciting futuristic potential for automated undersea and interplanetary building.

See Futuristic Possibilities