The offsite construction industry—and construction as a whole—is facing a storm that’s been brewing for years. As seasoned workers retire and younger generations pursue careers far removed from physical labor, the labor shortage is no longer a forecast. It’s here. And it’s deepening.
Photo: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia/© IIT
By 2025, industry analysts estimate the U.S. construction sector alone will need more than 500,000 additional workers to meet demand. With fewer young people entering the trades and an ever-growing housing and infrastructure backlog, it’s clear we can’t simply hire our way out of this crisis. That’s where an unexpected ally is stepping in: robotics.
Enter Concert—a modular construction robot developed by a team of researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology. This sleek, multi-talented machine isn’t just another proof-of-concept stuck in a lab. It’s been tested in real-world construction environments and is being positioned as a flexible, dependable teammate to human workers on-site.
A New Kind of Jobsite Performer
Concert is not a one-trick pony. Its design is modular—hence the name—and that makes it versatile. Swap in a tool head, and you get a different function. Drilling, sanding, insulation spraying, heavy lifting—Concert can handle it. It moves on wheels, operates autonomously, and can even follow basic voice commands.
photo – Okibo Robotics
What makes Concert different from the previous generation of construction robots is that it doesn’t aim to replace human crews but to support them. In the same way power tools replaced hammers and hand saws, Concert takes on the tedious, repetitive, or physically intense tasks that often lead to injury, burnout, or plain old fatigue.
Imagine your framing crew on a modular housing project working alongside a robotic teammate that pre-drills, lifts heavy panels into place, and even applies insulation. That’s not science fiction—it’s the future we’re rapidly approaching.
A Test Run With Real Dust and Dirt
While many robotics prototypes never leave the lab, Concert has already hit the jobsite. On a hospital construction project in Krakow, Poland, Concert showed off its skills in a gritty, unpredictable environment—the kind that modular factories or onsite installers know all too well.
photo – Next-Gen Hadrian X
It performed a number of tasks, including transporting materials and preparing surfaces, and did so with remarkable consistency and precision. When told to drill, it drilled to spec. When asked to move, it navigated debris and uneven terrain like a seasoned laborer.
It wasn’t just a show. It was a signal: robotics are ready to take their place next to humans on the construction site.
Bridging the Gap
Offsite and modular construction has long promised to speed up timelines and lower costs, but many of those promises rest on tight coordination and repeatable labor, especially in the field. When a panel arrives perfectly cut and wired from the factory, it still needs to be set, sealed, and finished on-site.
That’s where Concert fits in—not as a gimmick, but as a real-world solution to real-world pain points. For example, it can pre-spray vapor barriers or insulation at the junctions between modules. It can lift a panel into position and hold it while human workers fasten it down. It can be the steady hands that never get tired.
And with artificial intelligence getting smarter, Concert may one day learn from each job it completes, becoming more adept with every task and adjusting to changes in material, climate, and building codes.
Not a Silver Bullet, But a Strong Start
Let’s be clear: Concert alone won’t solve the labor shortage. No robot will. What it does offer, however, is an important step forward—a way to stretch the abilities of your best workers by removing the grunt work and giving them robotic assistance that doesn’t complain, quit, or get sore knees.
Modular and offsite construction companies that embrace this shift early will have a distinct advantage. Not just because they’ll work faster, but because they’ll keep their crews safer, more engaged, and more likely to stay.
In an industry known for its resistance to change, Concert is quietly proving that change is already here. The question now is whether you’ll watch it happen—or be the one leading the chorus.
This article is inspired by the reporting of Elissaveta M. Brandon in Fast Company. Read the original article here: Meet Concert, the robot that wants to revolutionize construction.
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Gary Fleisher, The Modcoach, writes about the modular and offsite construction industry at Modular Home Source.
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