Robot dog autonomously stacks bricks with precise placement
Towards Autonomous Bricklaying Using Boston Dynamics Spot
Robotics
Summary
Building walls by stacking bricks is hard work, especially on tricky ground. The authors show that a robot dog called Spot, with an attached arm, can stack bricks accurately by following instructions from design software. It finds bricks, moves between places, and puts them down close to the exact spots wanted, even outdoors and on stairs. This proof-of-concept shows robots might help build things in tough environments.
What this means in practice
- •For construction robotics teams: Enable automated brick stacking at sites with uneven terrain and spatially separated zones using a legged robot with integrated arm.
- •For outdoor inspection crew operators: Deploy legged robots capable of climbing stairs and navigating rough terrain for delivering or assembling equipment autonomously.
Authors
Karl-Johan Sorensen, Nico vom Hofe, Frank H. P. Fitzek
Abstract
Mobile legged robots offer unique advantages for on-site construction, including the ability to traverse unstructured terrain, climb stairs, and operate independently between spatially separated work zones. This paper presents a proof-of-concept system for autonomous brick stacking using a Boston Dynamics Spot quadrupedal robot equipped with a manipulator arm. The system operates between a supply area and an assembly area, using AprilTag fiducials for localization and autowalk missions for navigation. Target brick positions and orientations are specified in CAD software and exported directly for robotic execution. We evaluate placement accuracy through ten repeated assemblies of a curved four-layer wall comprising 14 wooden bricks. Results show mean translation errors below 10 mm and mean yaw errors below 1.5 degrees, while the overall RMSE across all runs is 27.72 mm (translation) and 2.06 degrees (rotation). The system was also tested outdoors with stairs between the two areas. The workflow is modular and easily extendable to different wall geometries.