ACCIONA uses new construction robot

  • July 15, 2024
  • Michael Nadeau

ACCIONA is using the HP SitePrint robot in the construction of Alentejo Central Hospital, in Évora, Portugal. It claims to be the first Spanish infrastructure company to continuously use this autonomous equipment and is the first use of this type of equipment in Portugal. The HP SitePrint robot is designed to improve the efficiency of a construction site’s design layout by visualizing the project’s planning data on the ground. Based on plans entered into the robot’s operating system, it is able to directly print out lines and text on work surfaces. It is collaborative in nature, meaning that a human operator remains an essential participant, preparing blueprints and operating the equipment.

Thanks to the robot, ACCIONA has managed to speed up the installation of the partition walls, achieving a layout pace six times faster than the traditional method. Once the building plans are entered into the robot’s system, it prints out lines and text directly on work surfaces in collaboration with a human operator.

The robot consists of a small mobile unit equipped with wheels and a print head developed for this purpose. Its autonomy and accuracy accelerates work execution of works, reducing the physical burden on surveyors.

ACCIONA said that the robot is solving one of the project’s main construction challenges: the execution of the building’s interior partition walls in a 140,000m2 slab area. The company has managed to execute more than 25,000m2, which it considers proof of the effectiveness of this new technology.

The New Regional Hospital of Alentejo project includes the construction of a ten-story building with capacity for 400 beds, as well as 127,000m² of green spaces and the construction of a heliport and large parking areas. With an investment of approximately €149 million, this is ACCIONA’s largest construction project in the country. It is scheduled for completion in 2025.