Automation in Construction in brief – 10/08/2025
Automation and Digitization
Researchers have developed a multi-granular crew activity recognition framework to automate productivity monitoring on construction sites, addressing limitations of traditional manual methods. The system uses graph-based models and self-attention mechanisms to identify individual and group actions, achieving a 70.31% F1 Score on real-world data. This approach enhances accuracy in tracking collaborative tasks, offering a scalable solution for site management and future research in construction automation.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106428
Researchers have developed an automated method to optimise masonry infill wall layouts, combining simulated annealing and tabu search algorithms within a BIM framework. Their approach, tested on case studies using Revit and Dynamo, improves construction quality and reduces material waste by efficiently handling complex constraints. The method promises enhanced productivity and digital guidance for masonry construction, supporting the shift towards smarter, more sustainable building practices.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106446
Virtual-reality headsets are fading fast. Once a hype darling, VR has slumped in relevance as consumers gravitate toward sleeker, AI-driven smart glasses. VR shipments slipped in 2024, and Meta’s Reality Labs now relies on smart-glasses sales for growth—not Quest headset revenue. With tech giants shifting investments, the future of VR appears increasingly bleak in a world enchanted by AR lenses.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/vr-is-in-a-really-bad-place-right-now-and-smart-glasses-are-to-blame-2000638453
OpenAI has released two open-weight AI reasoning models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, marking its first open-source language models since GPT-2. Available on Hugging Face under the permissive Apache 2.0 license, the models outperform most open competitors but hallucinate more than proprietary peers. The move aims to counter China’s rise in open AI and align with US policy, though training data remains undisclosed.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/05/openai-launches-two-open-ai-reasoning-models/
The EU’s landmark AI Act, effective from August 2024, establishes the world’s first comprehensive legal framework for artificial intelligence. Applying to both European and foreign firms, it uses a risk-based approach, imposing strict rules on high-risk AI and banning certain uses outright. Major tech firms are divided over compliance, with some voicing concerns about stifling innovation. Staggered deadlines extend full enforcement into 2027. Penalties are severe.
Construction Robotics
A study demonstrates that a remotely operated, wheeled robotic vehicle can perform acoustic measurements on construction sites to ASTM standards as accurately as a two-person human team, but at lower cost and with greater efficiency. The robot, based on off-the-shelf hardware, enables single-operator inspections and streamlines compliance with strict building norms, signalling a shift toward automation in acoustic engineering and potential broader applications in construction site assessment.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106434
America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration granted Zoox, Amazon’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, an exemption to demonstrate its custom robotaxis—lacking steering wheels and pedals—on public roads, resolving a probe into regulatory compliance. The move aligns with new federal guidelines easing deployment of vehicles without traditional controls. Zoox, which is not yet operating commercially, will expand testing while working towards eventual commercial approval.
Lyft announced a strategic partnership with China’s Baidu to launch robotaxi services in Germany and the UK by 2026, pending regulatory approval. Baidu’s autonomous RT6 vehicles will be integrated into Lyft’s app, marking Lyft’s push into Europe after acquiring FREENOW. The move intensifies competition with Uber, which has formed multiple autonomous vehicle alliances and recently invested heavily in the sector.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/04/lyft-and-chinas-baidu-look-to-bring-robotaxis-to-europe-next-year/
OpenMind, a Silicon Valley startup founded in 2024, aims to become the “Android” of humanoid robotics with its open, hardware-agnostic OM1 operating system. The firm has unveiled FABRIC, a protocol for robots to share information and verify identity, and plans to deploy its first OM1-powered robotic dogs by September. OpenMind recently raised $20m led by Pantera Capital to accelerate real-world testing and rapid iteration.
Space Construction
China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory in Hefei has unveiled a solar-powered, 3D-printer-like device that transforms lunar regolith into bricks by melting dust with concentrated sunlight—over 1,300 °C focused via fiber-optic optics. This breakthrough in in-situ resource utilization could enable roads, platforms and protective shelling for habitats without Earth-supplied materials. Critics caution the bricks cannot withstand lunar vacuum pressure, limiting their structural use.
Engineers at RMIT University have developed a 3D-printed titanium alloy that is 29% cheaper and stronger than standard alloys, by substituting vanadium with readily available elements. The innovation also yields a more uniform microstructure, improving performance for aerospace and medical applications. The team has filed a provisional patent and is seeking industry partners to commercialise the technology.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250803011832.htm
SpaceX is constructing a water pipeline from Brownsville to its newly incorporated city of Starbase, Texas, replacing trucked deliveries. The arrangement, approved by local authorities, grants SpaceX in-city customer rates and control over water distribution. Non-affiliated residents face uncertain access, with agreements requiring them to vacate during launches. Starbase itself provides no utilities; all services are managed privately by SpaceX, limiting public access and oversight.
Hubble Network, a Seattle startup, will upgrade its satellite-powered Bluetooth network with advanced phased-array receivers aboard Muon Space’s new MuSat XL satellites, launching in 2027. The system promises global Bluetooth coverage, enabling low-power asset tracking for enterprises without extra infrastructure. Hubble aims for 60 satellites by 2028, leveraging Muon’s scalable production and targeting sectors from logistics to defence.
NASA and Google are developing an AI-powered medical assistant, the Crew Medical Officer Digital Assistant (CMO-DA), to support astronauts on deep-space missions where real-time communication with Earth is not possible. Tested on scenarios such as injuries and pain, the tool demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy. NASA aims to enhance the system’s situational awareness for space-specific conditions, with potential applications for terrestrial healthcare.
Scientists examining Mars’ layered iron-sulfate deposits—via orbital spectroscopy and rover data—have identified a potentially novel, iron-bearing mineral, offering fresh evidence of recent chemical and thermal activity on the Red Planet. If confirmed, this discovery could reshape our understanding of Martian geology, hinting at more dynamic surface processes than previously recognized.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/scientists-think-they-have-found-a-brand-new-mineral-on-mars-2000640335
A recent directive from Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy instructs the agency to overhaul its Commercial Low-Earth-Orbit Destinations programme, lowering the bar for new private space stations intended to succeed the ISS by 2030. The revised timeline and diminished performance thresholds reflect budgetary pressure and urgency—but critics warn the changes may undermine efforts to ensure a continuous American human presence in orbit.
NASA’s interim chief, Sean Duffy, has ordered a fast-track for a 100 kW nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030—quadrupling previous power goals—to enable sustained human lunar habitation and long-term U.S. dominance in space. The urgency stems from fears that a potential Chinese–Russian reactor could create exclusion zones around strategic lunar terrain.
