But contractors and construction companies balked when Brad Kriel first started pitching his company's connected, robotic miter saw accessory, Autoset.
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Velocity Robotics brings advanced technology to the construction site
But contractors and construction companies balked when Brad Kriel first started pitching his company's connected, robotic miter saw accessory, Autoset.
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6 comments:
Wow this is really awesome. It reminds me of the TigerStop that Drew is always talking about, and upon researching that it’s pretty much exactly the same except TigerStop does up to 1/128” instead of 1/64. So I wonder what is the difference that makes Autoset superior. Kriel does say it makes the job 50% faster, which TigerStop only estimates 35%. Tigerstop is also fully automatic- when you put in a measurement it moves the stop to the right position. Given the video on the article, it looks like you have to push the Autoset to the right stop and it locks when it gets into place. I would love to see a side by side comparison of the two products including pricing- something neither website I’m lookin at shows. Kriel mentions how his product will help even small businesses get ahead of the competition- making it should like his product is less expensive than TigerStop.
This is such an interesting idea and I see how this could be a great machine to move not only in to the construction industry but also the commercial shop. The idea that you can pre-set your miter saw with measurements to cut is mid boggling and the fact that you are able to do it out in the field with a connected tape or laser makes so much sense to reduce the contractors error and to improve their efficiency. The ability to save and log cuts allows for a work flow of just feeding the machine the desire pieces of wood. I would really love to see this set up implemented in a shop set up as well though where you are able to give the machine a cut list or even better yet a drawing and it is able to not only calculate the size of cuts but the number of cuts and is able to then move and adjust itself into place for all of the desire measurements.
An interesting concept. I like the idea of incorporating technology into things like construction and other fields but as aids. Things like what he is talking about with measurements and other such useful tools would be very beneficial to workflow and overall time. It still incorporates a human element and this technology just adds to the person using it. There are a lot of companies out there that are taking technology and using it to replace people which in certain cases is better, like car engines, you don’t want mistakes on those, but for jobs that are fine with human creation it should be just an addition. There is also another great point brought up and that’s design. Design is something that can’t be done without a person and so machines shouldn’t be incorporated into anything that requires a designer. In construction a machine isn’t going to understand what the designer wants but can aid in making it happen. So, a person should always be involved and technology should progress but be wary of it taking over.
How could I not grab this bait. I'm all about automated stop block technology, which is a new realization because I had thought I was all about Tiger Stop. I now see this idea goes beyond Tiger Stop, but I am not sure to the same level. Now, at the $500 price point, it makes sense that it is not on the same level as its $3,000 counterpart. I think at this price point it will be far more accessible for your standard shop or jobsite saw. And if you think about the basics of both products, the only thing Tiger Stop has that Autoset doesn't is the ability for the stop to move on its own. I can't believe I am saying this, but I am not sure how much more helpful having the stop move by itself is. The time saver is measuring the board, setting the stop, checking the stop, not actually moving the stop. Autoset does have this concept of sending measurements straight from the measuring tool to the saw, but I must say I don't completely get that part of it. However, there is way more to TigerStop than just the basics and while a scene shop or residential construction may not utilize the high tech features, other types of fabrication shops certainly take TigerStop for all it has to offer. So, in the end this is a really great product, and I think could break into the smaller shop and contractor toolkit. My concern is that, although it is fine feature wise, it does not seem robust enough for high intensity work like a typical scene shop. It is also cool to see the Pittsburgh connection.
I feel like this could take a bit of the humanity out of construction. I think that the need to try and remember measurements and to fix our mistakes when we make them make us better carpenters. There was a painter recently who had a process where they made small quick paintings that sold for $50. The painter’s gallery owner told them to stop making them because it would lower prices overall. After the painter stopped they felt that their work suffered as a whole. I feel as though a similar thing would happen if I were to stop needing to take measurements myself. I think that this would be great for use on construction and mass labor sites, but for what I hope to do I don’t think it would be appropriate. I’m sure that we will see what happens in the next few years. Perhaps I will have changed my mind by then.
So I click on this article because I have heard of this technology before and thought it has a really cool ability to help with the fabrication process. In it simplest for of just being a smart sliding stop block. As the article states “Autoset helps contractors make a single cut 50 percent faster, Kriel said. Efficiencies compile as you add more and more cuts throughout a job. Over the course of a five to six week construction job, Kriel estimated Autoset could save a crew two to three days.” while these results are impressive imagine if you combine that with a nesting software to get the highest amount of yield out of peice of lumber, and add onto that the ability to label to boards so that the fabrication process on the front end can kinda turn into a lego essembly process. And that just the results of putting a smart system like this on just one tool, that’s impressive.
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