Advanced Construction Robotics, Inc.

Jay W Gowdy

Stephen M Muck

Andrew M Hetrick

Joseph E Chabala

Jeremy L Searock

Matthew Q Shaffer

Patrick A Weber

Justin C Scheifflee

Donald R Crouse

John P Stewart

An improvement to a semi-autonomous apparatus is described herein. In an apparatus having a gantry subassembly, a tram subassembly movably mounted on the gantry subassembly, and an actuation subassembly mounted on the tram subassembly, the improvement includes a gripper subassembly operatively connected to the actuation subassembly. The movement of the subassemblies is controlled in part by a control system that controls drive systems associated with one or more of the subassemblies. The gantry subassembly includes a bridge member for laterally spanning a selected section of a work site. The tram subassembly includes a tram that travels laterally along to the bridge member. The actuation subassembly includes at least one motion actuator for controlling the movement of the gripper subassembly in a generally vertical direction and may include an additional motion actuator for movement in a generally horizontal direction. The gripper subassembly includes passively actuated grippers for lifting, transporting and placing objects, and particularly, elongate objects such as reinforcing bars used in road and other cementitious surface construction.

Semi-autonomous system for carrying and placing elongate objects

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Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Jay W Gowdy