This award will support a one-year research visit by Dr. Roozbeh Kangari, School of Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, to the Advanced Robotics Laboratory of the Shimizu Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. The Shimizu Corporation is the largest construction company in Japan, and has a highly advanced construction robotics laboratory. Dr. Kangari will carry out research there in the area of robotics and automation in construction, and he expects to establish a base for continuing collaboration between Georgia Tech and Shimizu in this field. Information, ideas, skills, and techniques used in the research and development of robots will be exchanged between the U.S. investigator and the Japanese researchers. The ultimate goal of this project is the establishment of a world-class construction robotics center within the Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems (CIMS) Robotics Laboratory at Georgia Tech. An important aim of this center will be to help increase productivity in the U.S. construction industry, and make U.S. contractors more competitive in the world market. Robotics and automation are likely to play an increasingly important role in the construction industry in the years ahead. They are expected to increase productivity, improve quality, reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve safety in the construction work environment. Japanese construction companies have been actively involved in research and development of construction robots, and are aggressively transferring advanced technology from the research laboratory to the construction site. Dr. Kangari's visit to the Advanced Robotics Laboratory of the Shimizu Corporation is expected to provide him with knowledge and experience that should greatly facilitate the establishment of a construction robotics center at the CIMS Robotics Laboratory at Georgia Tech.
