(Hammond & Westville, IN) - Purdue University Northwest will help determine if the use of robotics and artificial intelligence in new housing construction can help lower prices.
PNW’s College of Technology will receive a portion of a $3.19 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support the Scalable Construction Automation for Labor-Efficient and Affordable Housing Expansion (SCALE-HOME) project.
The initiative places PNW at the forefront of applied research in construction innovation, automation and housing sustainability.
SCALE-HOME is an industry-driven collaboration that brings together academia, housing developers and regional stakeholders to demonstrate and independently evaluate how robotics and artificial intelligence can help with the shortage of affordable housing, PNW officials said.
Researchers from PNW’s College of Technology will independently evaluate advanced construction automation technologies developed by the Illinois-based company, Lightspeed Build Technologies.
“Our role as independent evaluators is critical to the project,” said Afshin Zahraee, department chair of Construction Science and Organizational Leadership and associate professor of Construction Management Engineering Technology at PNW.
“Our responsibility is to objectively measure effectiveness by evaluating labor savings, cost impacts, schedule performance, quality outcomes, material efficiency and long-term scalability so that conclusions are based on evidence rather than assumptions,” he said.
Zahraee will serve as principal investigator and evaluation director, leading the overall evaluation strategy, developing the research framework, overseeing data collection and analysis, ensuring scientific rigor and coordinating all reporting.
“One of the most exciting aspects of SCALE-HOME is that it is not a laboratory experiment. The technologies will be deployed in active housing developments where homes are being constructed for real families and communities. That makes this true applied research,” he said.
The primary goal of the project is to determine whether robotics and artificial intelligence can meaningfully increase the speed, efficiency and affordability of residential construction while maintaining quality and safety standards, minimizing material waste and improving project predictability, PNW officials said.
