Autonomous jobsites edge closer to REALITY

Heavy-equipment manufacturers and tech suppliers are solving the challenges to creating construction sites with fewer humans on the ground.

Will the construction industry ever get to a point where the sight of humans on a jobsite is a rarity? Judging by the increasing number of projects demonstrating autonomous construction equipment at jobsites in the U.S., Europe and Asia, the answer likely is “yes” - eventually.

Consider the partnership between California-based SafeAI and Japanese construction company Obayashi that demoed this past summer a retrofitted autonomous Caterpillar 725 articulated haul truck operating on a construction site in Japan for the first time. Prior to the public demo, which the companies consider a critical first step toward securing government approval for autonomous construction in Japan, SafeAI and Obayashi spent six weeks extensively testing in the country to confirm all the features previously developed in a U.S.-based proof of concept.