Earlier this year I wrote about a company called Asmbld that have developed a miniature robot that is capable of configuring rooms in near real time.

The system is compatible with older buildings as the system is built on top of the existing floor, with the robots then operating in the space between the old and new.

The facilities managers then design their desired layout on their mobile device, which then talks directly to the robots to carry out the instructions required to build the design.

Suffice to say, re-configuring rooms on this scale is a sizeable undertaking, but automation is also changing how we do more fiddly work around our homes and commercial properties.

Automation in tight spaces

The q-bot is an intelligent robot that’s designed to operate in tight spaces, such as in between walls or underneath floors.

Whilst the brick can be operated remotely by an operator, it is also capable of functioning autonomously.  It can survey the space around itself automatically and then make decisions on how best to apply foam-based insulation or manage obstructions it encounters.

“It carries out operations autonomously, but it’s not quite at the level of sending a robot to Mars,” Mathew Holloway, managing director of Q-Bot says.

The device recently won best start-up at the Invention and Entrepreneurship in Robotics and Automation Awards earlier this year, and they have already achieved some success in the marketplace with a number of housing companies using the robots to undertake a range of energy saving refurbishments.

The team suggest that using the robots can save approximately £200-300 per year in energy costs.  The device certainly has some pedigree in its corner, so it will be fascinating to see how it develops from here.