Monumental's Construction Robots & Seasats' Autonomous Marine Crafts | TWiST E2217

Monumental: Automating Construction with Robots

• 🤖 Monumental is developing a fleet of three interconnected robots that work together on construction sites: one for bricklaying, one for supplying bricks, and one for supplying mortar.
• 💡 The core focus is on "wall autonomy" for facade construction, with human operators currently handling loading/unloading, but with minimal overall human input required.
• 🚀 The robots have achieved a benchmark of over 850 bricks laid in a single shift, surpassing human mason speeds, while targeting an average of 400-500 bricks per shift.
• 🧱 Monumental uses traditional bricks and mortar to seamlessly integrate into existing construction supply chains, avoiding the headwinds associated with new materials.
• 💰 The company operates as a subcontractor, taking on projects directly rather than selling or leasing robots, which allows access to larger revenue streams and aims for software-like margins.
• 🇳🇱 Monumental chose to build in the Netherlands due to its high population density and construction density, along with a single, homogeneous building code, making it an ideal market for initial pilots.
• 🇬🇧 The UK was chosen for pilots due to significant inbound interest and a severe shortage of bricklayers, exacerbated by demographics and Brexit.
• ⚙️ The "Atrium" software stack manages robot kinematics, autonomy, and quality control, using vision systems to measure brick placement and mortar quality, feeding data back to improve machine learning models.
• ✨ Monumental's robots can create intricate brick patterns, combine multiple brick colors, and perform indents and outdents at the same speed and cost as skilled human craftsmen.

Seasats: Autonomous Marine Drones

• 🌊 Seasats designs autonomous marine drones (ASVs) inspired by the "Scout" transatlantic project, aiming for "iPhone-style" ease of use and scalability.
• ⏱️ Standard training for Seasats' drones is two days, a significant reduction from the industry standard of two weeks, with some users trained in as little as three minutes for specific applications.
• 🔋 The drones feature self-power management, propulsion, steering, and payload management, requiring human intent for mission objectives like patrolling or reaching a target.
• ☀️ Solar power is a primary energy source, supplemented by a methanol fuel cell generator for extended endurance and operation in adverse weather conditions.
• 🛰️ Connectivity is achieved through high-bandwidth satellite constellations, enabling remote operation and fleet coordination, though the focus is on individual unit autonomy.
• 📊 Key commercial applications include surveying for construction, pipeline laying, and infrastructure monitoring, where precise, repetitive tasks are crucial.
• 🇺🇸 Seasats is based in San Diego, leveraging its scientific institutions, military presence, and tech hub environment, while focusing on building a domestic supply chain free from Chinese components, despite higher costs.
• ⚓ The company has the capacity to build hundreds of ASVs per year, positioning itself closer to consumer goods and automotive manufacturing scales than traditional shipbuilding.
• 💡 The power of small, cost-effective ASVs is highlighted by their use in asymmetric warfare, as demonstrated by Ukraine's use of small drones against larger naval fleets.