Photo: Screenshot from YouTube / @WienerbergerAG

The construction sector in our region is facing a historic turning point.

According to data reported by the portal baustela.hr in neighboring Slovenia, the first robotic construction project in this area was recently presented. The company Wienerberger, in cooperation with Slovenian partners in the town of Cerknica, presented the WLTR robot which fully automates the bricklaying process. It is a technology that is rapidly spreading across European construction sites, and this powerful replacement for human labor is soon arriving in Croatia.

What can the new machine do on the construction site?

WLTR is not just a prototype but a serious and tested machine that takes over one of the hardest physical jobs in construction. This bricklaying robot can build 10 square meters of wall in just one hour, thereby easily replacing as many as 5 to 6 manual workers. It does not ask for breaks, does not know fatigue, and is resistant to all weather conditions including strong wind, sun, and rain.

It can build walls up to a height of 3.5 meters without any need to set up construction scaffolding. As for site requirements, it only needs access to water and a 400 V power connection. The machine is operated very simply via tablet. The robot follows a virtual wall model and, with the help of advanced sensors and a cross laser, lays bricks with perfect precision. Thanks to such a smart system, the possibility of human error is reduced to 0%.

For the machine to function on site, one trained operator and one assistant worker are required, depending on the project itself.

Development and results so far in Europe

Although it sounds like science fiction, this innovative system was actively developed from 2021 to 2023 in the Czech Republic. After a successful testing phase, the project grew into a serious commercial service. Currently, 12 of these robots are active on European construction sites, operating in 6 different countries.

So far, they have completely independently and successfully built more than 40,000 square meters of walls on various residential and industrial buildings. The machine uses a special modular brick system of 125 millimeters, which completely eliminates the need for cutting materials on the construction site itself and drastically reduces the amount of construction waste.

A solution to the chronic labor shortage

Although at first glance it seems that advanced technology will take jobs away from people, experts from Wienerberger emphasize that the main goal is to speed up the construction process and drastically increase safety. Automated bricklaying reduces overall labor costs and directly solves the problem of the shortage of qualified construction workers that has been troubling all of Europe for years. Instead of hard physical labor, the role of workers on the construction site is now reduced to supervising the process and operating the machine, which significantly reduces the risk of dangerous injuries when working at height.