Auburn University adds a new member to their construction crew— Mac the robot dog

Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to advance and Auburn University is actively taking part in it. The institution partnered with Boston Dynamics to create a robotic dog to help improve work on construction sites and more. Keep reading for the details.

Mac is on the move—check it out

Robotic dogs are a thing? You better believe it. This isn’t the first robotic dog to make its way through the state. We previously wrote about this on Bham Now—now it looks like one is coming to Auburn University, too. Auburn hopes to build upon the many potential uses of what is quickly becoming one of man’s best friends in technology—robot dog.

McWhorter School of Building Science (BSCI) purchased the robotic dog, Mac, this spring. Mac has already been used on construction sites and in classrooms at Auburn. Eric Wetzel, Assistant Professor at BSCI, said the robot has been utilized in research experiments on active construction sites, including the Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center.

Mac is construction’s newest companion

Mac is a great addition to construction sites. Why? Thanks to its mobility and autonomous mode, the robot can scan a room on its own while avoiding obstacles. Plus, Mac provides detailed data that can be directly applied to projects.

“Within the last 10 years, we’ve seen this explosion in construction robotics. Mac is representative of this shift, and it’s partially because the tech is good enough that it can now be useful on construction sites. Construction is suffering from a massive skilled labor shortage and one that doesn’t seem to have a solution in the short term.”

Eric Wetzel, BSCI Assistant Professor, Auburn University

In terms of research, Mac being out in the field at Auburn allows Boston Dynamics and other industry leaders the chance to process unique data—data that is crucial to the technology’s evolution. Wetzel and his team are excited at the chance to work with Mac and explore new horizons of research and discovery.

“To have such a novel piece of equipment at our disposal at the McWhorter School of Building Science, it doesn’t happen that frequently. Very rarely do you get the opportunity to work on something that’s so new and every experiment you run is something that’s not been done before.”

Eric Wetzel, BSCI Assistant Professor, Auburn University

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