Optimizing on-site building material handling with construction robotics

Material handling robots (MHRs) are increasingly explored as a means of enhancing construction productivity by automating on-site material transportation. MHR fleet operations, including task allocation and robot fleet scheduling, are crucial for material handling efficiency. However, current practices rely on intuitive methods without optimization. In this paper, an automated planning tool that incorporates task types, delivery time windows, material types and volumes, and robot capacities, is proposed to obtain allocation and scheduling plans. Using data from a real-life residential building for validation, the proposed tool is shown to generate optimal solutions that ensure no material delivery delays in one minute. The tool is then compared with first-come-first-served and earliest-deadline-first rules. Comparative analyses show that the proposed method outperforms rule-based methods by achieving minimum material delivery delays with a leaner MHR configuration. This paper contributes to the transition from traditional labor-intensive construction practices toward more intelligent and efficient operations.