Robots are coming to a construction site near you.
Tech startups are developing self-driving bulldozers, survey drones and bricklaying robots to help the construction industry boost productivity, speed and safety as it struggles to find enough skilled workers.
A wave of automation is transforming the construction industry, which has lagged behind other sectors in technological innovation.
Backed by venture capital, tech startups are developing robots, drones, software and other technologies to help the construction industry to boost speed, safety and productivity.
Autonomous machines are changing the nature of construction work in an industry that's facing a backlog of building projects.
Workers at Berich Masonry in Englewood, Colorado, recently spent several weeks learning how to operate a bricklaying robot known as SAM. That's short for Semi-Automated Mason, a $400,000 machine which is made by Victor, New York-based Construction Robotics.
The machine can lay about 3,000 bricks in an eight-hour shift - several times more than a mason working by hand.
