FBR signs third global partnership deal

Robotic technology company FBR has signed a partnership agreement with Wienerberger AG, the third major international building materials group to have struck a deal with the Perth startup to commercialise its Hadrian X autonomous bricklaying robot.

Austrian company Wienerberger is the world’s largest clay block manufacturer.

It will collaborate with FBR, formerly Fastbricks Robotics, to test and develop customised clay block solutions, before manufacturing and introducing the robots to markets where it operates.

In June, FBR entered into a similar agreement with Mexican developer GP Vivienda and less than a month later extended its one-year partnership with global machinery manufacturer Caterpillar for a further six months.

In July, FBR also appointed Caterpillar’s strategy and innovation manager, Steve Pierz, as its US-based chief innovation officer.

Last week, the High Wycombe-based company announced it had successfully completed stability testing on the robot. 

FBR chief executive Michael Pivac said the successful test was a major milestone for the Hadrian X program.

“It demonstrates that we can take the technology we have developed for robotic bricklaying and implement it with a range of other applications,” he said.

Development of the Hadrian X has been FBR’s primary project since the company’s ASX listing in 2015.

In November 2017, FBR raised $35 million in a share placement to further develop its Hadrian X prototype.

The autonomous robot can lay up to 1,000 bricks an hour, approximately twice the rate of a typical bricklayer, with FBR aiming to construct the brick component of a single-storey house within two days.

Mr Pirvac said the Wienerberger partnership would provide an opportunity to further scale the construction robot’s technology.

“This partnership will enable us to offer our customers unique clay block solutions tailored to their markets and also ensure a sustainable supply of blocks manufactured specifically for the Hadrian X,” he said.

Last month, FBR appointed former Brickworks Building Products general manager Peter Scott to its advisory committee.

Shares in FBR were steady at 16 cents at 1.30pm AEST.