Construction Robotics Moves From the Lab to the Job Site

Written by:

Steve Marcinuk

Date:

24 Jun 2026

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The gap between what construction technology promises and what actually works on a job site has long frustrated the industry. Autonomous robots have been discussed as a solution to labor shortages and safety risks for years, but real-world deployment has lagged behind the conversation. Raise Robotics, a San Francisco-based company that builds autonomous mobile platforms for commercial construction, is among a small group of early movers putting these machines to work.

With 14 deployments across eight states since its founding in 2021, the company has accumulated field experience that shapes how construction robotics actually develops. Kenrick Tjandra, the company’s Robotics Deployment Lead, manages everything from initial site surveys to post-deployment support.

Tjandra’s path into construction robotics began at Carnegie Mellon, where a capstone thesis project with Japanese construction firm Shimizu introduced him to robotic concrete spray applications. That early exposure led him toward Raise Robotics after graduation, where his role has grown alongside the company’s expanding deployment footprint.

What Deployment Looks Like

Getting a robot onto a commercial job site requires more than shipping equipment. Raise Robotics begins each engagement by understanding what a contractor actually needs – whether installation layout, drilling, or other tasks – and then assessing whether the company can deliver it.

Tjandra explains that each customer has specific requirements. The company surveys the actual site to confirm that what was discussed over the phone matches conditions on the ground, while also gathering information about edge cases such as weather exposure and structural variations.

Once on site, the robots integrate into the existing construction workflow, working alongside other equipment.  They are parked and charged overnight, require no tethered cable during operation, and need recharging roughly every other day. Depending on the contract structure (lease, per-project, or outright purchase), the robot either returns to the client’s facility or back to Raise Robotics’ base in San Francisco.

Enthusiasm and Skepticism

Industry coverage of construction robotics often frames the sector as being on the verge of widespread adoption. The ground-level picture is more complicated.

“It’s a mix of both. We have parties that are very excited and receptive, and then there are some that are more skeptical,” Tjandra says. The skepticism tends to center on two concerns: safety and job displacement.

On safety, the company has addressed early fears through redundant systems, emergency stops, insurance and liability frameworks, and a formal certification program developed in partnership with the IUPAT union. Tjandra participated in union trainer sessions in Philadelphia, where he saw the range of reactions firsthand.

Some workers worry about displacement, but many jobsite crews already struggle to staff projects adequately. For workers who spend careers drilling through materials for eight hours a day or working in physically demanding postures, the robot addresses something harder to quantify than cost savings. “When they retire at 40 or 50, they still get to do sports, they can still be active because they don’t have back pain,” Tjandra says. “This is not something you can put a dollar value on, but it matters.”

The financial case is also becoming clearer. Tjandra points to two recent projects where robotic deployment prevented at least $100,000 in rework costs each, including a recently concluded project at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis.

Training and the Barrier to Entry

Getting a crew comfortable enough to operate the robot independently takes roughly three days of hands-on training (either at Raise headquarters or at the jobsite), a timeline that Raise Robotics has refined through experience. The initial IUPAT training program ran five days, but the company has since streamlined the process based on feedback from clients, including a glazing contractor in San Francisco who sent staff directly to the company’s office for training.

The three-day window reflects a practical trade-off: long enough to build competence, short enough that contractors will actually send workers. “You definitely don’t need a robotics degree to run the robot,” Tjandra says.

The user interface has also been simplified over time. Early versions offered detailed visualizations that proved more distracting than useful for field operators. The current design shows operators only what they need to complete the task at hand.

What the Field Teaches Us

Perhaps the most consistent theme across Raise Robotics’ deployments is that unpredictability is the norm. Weather, site conditions, and input accuracy all vary in ways that no controlled environment can fully replicate.

“What is consistent is uncertainty,” Tjandra says. “You’re always exposed to a new set of problems every day.”

The company learned this early. In its first Texas deployments during summer 2022, 3D-printed robot components melted in the heat. That experience drove hardware changes that have carried through to subsequent deployments. The robot is now built to handle harsh environments, dust, and temperature extremes as baseline requirements rather than edge cases.

Input accuracy is another recurring challenge. When performing layout work, clients typically want precision within a sixteenth of an inch, but the reference points provided on site are not always that accurate. A worker manually operating a total station would face the same errors. The company has adapted its approach to account for the most common real-world conditions rather than optimizing for ideal ones.

Where Robotics Makes Sense

Not every task is a good candidate for automation. Tjandra applies a straightforward framework when evaluating new requests: the work should be repetitive, and the cost of errors or rework should be meaningful.

“The adage is that if the task is dirty, dull, and/or dangerous, let a robot do it. And we believe that. It’s the high-occurrence, high-precision, or high-difficulty work where robotics really thrives.”

Welding is one area where the company has received customer interest but has not yet committed, partly due to the technical complexity of making equipment blast-proof. The company continues to map emerging requests against its development roadmap.

The Early Mover Effect

One dynamic Tjandra observes consistently is how early adopters change the conversation for contractors still on the fence. In 2022 and 2023, general contractors would often ask whether anyone else had deployed a robotic solution on a job site. If the answer was no, the default response was to wait.

“When they learn that competitors are already deploying it, it becomes much easier to open the conversation,” Tjandra says. That shift, from cautious observer to willing participant, is one of the clearer signs that the industry’s relationship with construction robotics is moving past the pilot stage.

As of mid-2026, Raise Robotics is operating across commercial projects in Los Angeles, Nashville, Houston, and Dallas, with a focus on cities where new commercial construction activity is concentrated. The company serves general contractors across multiple return engagements, a signal that the technology is holding up not just in initial pilots but across sustained use. For an industry long skeptical of automation claims, repeat business may be the most meaningful proof point available.

About the Expert: Kenrick Tjandra is Robotics Deployment Lead at Raise Robotics, a company that has completed 14 deployments across eight states with an autonomous mobile platform designed for layout, drilling, and related tasks on commercial construction sites.

This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.