Guest Editors:

Professor Carlos Balaguer
Professor of Robotic and Automation head of the RoboticsLab, University Carlos III of Madrid,  Spain

Dr. Mohamed Abderrahim
Associate Professor
Department of Systems Engineering and Automation, University Carlos III of Madrid,  Spain

E-mail:	balaguer@ing.uc3m.es
	mohamed@ing.uc3m.es

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Special robots and automation technology have the potential to raise productivity by performing tasks efficiently and improving working conditions through applications where humans are exposed to safety hazards. Construction is a diverse industry characterised by almost unique circumstances for each project and a dynamic unstructured environment, with safety hazards, temporary activities and changing weather conditions, which all together hold back greater automation. This explains why there are few industrial robots to be found in the construction sector. However, recent years have seen an increase in the development of special robot and automated machines that carry out complex sequences of operations in the construction sector with great performance. Examples of these special robots include wall (façade) climbing robots for inspection and maintenance, concrete power floating machines, concrete floor surface finishing robots, construction steel frame welding robots, wall panels’ bricklaying robots, robotic excavators and automated cranes for the assembly of modular construction elements.

Other advances in the automation in construction have been reported on the software side where IT applications have been developed, to increase the safety standards of the construction site, to assist in better planning and execution of projects, to automate the buildings’ design process, to visualize the community projects using immersive 3D VR techniques and to monitor and control of the parts & materials flow (through tags and RFID) of the entire construction process.

Scope and Topics:  
The special issue aims to review and discuss the recent achievements and visions for the future in the practical applications of robots and automated systems in the construction sector. Papers covering the latest of construction robots technologies such as, sensors, control, human interfaces and manipulation techniques are also solicited.

Main Topics include the following:    
Construction robots: design and control
Robots localization and mapping
Automated construction machinery
Automated and robotised construction processes
Automated construction planning
Information Technology
IT based security/safety applications
Computer Integrated Construction
Automated logistics
Case study applications
Construction robots key technologie

Submission procedure
Draft papers have to be submitted direct to the Guest Editors