Robot Talk Episode 167 Explores Novel Robot Designs for Construction Automation

In Episode 167 of Robot Talk, host Claire speaks with Jan Petrš, a roboticist, architect, and entrepreneur affiliated with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and Déploya Robotics. The episode examines novel robot designs for construction and architecture, a field where automation must contend with irregular sites, heavy materials, and highly customized building processes.

Petrš works at the intersection of robotics and construction. His profile combines technical robotics research with architectural training and entrepreneurial experience. That combination positions him to examine how robotic systems can be designed around construction workflows rather than simply adapted from factory settings.

He is co-founder of Déploya Robotics, an EPFL spin-off. The company is developing deployable robotic systems for automated façade installation. Façade installation is a demanding construction task that often involves repetitive handling, precise positioning, and coordination with building envelopes.

The discussion highlights the challenge of moving robotic automation from controlled industrial environments to active construction sites. Façade installation requires systems that can be transported, deployed, and operated under conditions that differ sharply from fixed manufacturing cells. This shift raises questions about robustness, setup time, and safe operation around workers.

Before his current role, Petrš was a Postdoctoral Researcher at EPFL’s Laboratory of Intelligent Systems. There, his research focused on tensegrity robotics, a design approach that uses networks of compressive and tensile elements to create lightweight, adaptable structures. Tensegrity systems are notable for balancing structural rigidity with compliance.

Tensegrity concepts are relevant to construction robotics because they can offer structural efficiency and adaptability. Such qualities may help robots interact with uncertain environments and handle large or delicate components without relying solely on rigid, high-mass mechanisms. The approach reflects a wider interest in lightweight robotic structures for architectural work.

His PhD research at Czech Technical University examined a robotic system that combined reconfigurable and soft robotics for architectural and construction applications. This work sits at the boundary between adaptable machine design and building-scale fabrication. It also connects reconfigurable mechanisms with compliant materials and structures.

Reconfigurable robotics allows a system to change its physical arrangement to suit different tasks, while soft robotics introduces compliant materials and structures. Combining the two approaches could support construction tasks that demand both versatility and safe interaction. The research therefore addresses a practical need for robots that can adapt to varied building processes.

For architecture, the appeal of such systems lies in their potential to support non-standard geometries and small-batch production. Construction projects rarely follow the repetition of mass manufacturing, so adaptable robots may be better suited to varied design requirements.

The episode presents these strands as part of a broader effort to develop construction robots tailored to architecture. Rather than treating construction as a single automation problem, the conversation points to the need for designs that respond to specific tasks such as façade installation, assembly, and fabrication. Such task-specific thinking is important in a sector with diverse materials and site conditions.

Déploya Robotics’ focus on deployable systems reflects a practical concern in construction: equipment must often be moved between sites and set up quickly. A robotic system that can be folded, transported, and redeployed may be more viable than a large fixed machine. Deployability can also help teams respond to projects of different scales.

The spin-off context is significant because it translates laboratory research into a product-oriented effort. Déploya Robotics is presented as an EPFL spin-off, linking academic work on intelligent systems with the needs of façade construction.

The conversation also underscores the interdisciplinary nature of construction robotics. Success depends on collaboration among roboticists, architects, engineers, and builders, as well as on designs that account for safety, logistics, and the physical realities of building sites. These factors shape both research priorities and commercial development.

By featuring Petrš’s path from tensegrity research to a spin-off company, Robot Talk Episode 167 illustrates how academic robotics can move toward application in architecture and construction. The episode also shows that construction automation is not only a matter of software or control, but of mechanical design, deployment, and integration with building practice. It is available through Robohub’s Robot Talk series.