Moorings Park builders use new AI technology for expansion

Moorings Park builders use new AI technology for expansion

While conversations around artificial intelligence (AI) continue around the globe, a Naples community used AI-assisted technology and robotics along with high-speed laser scanning to reshape the construction process.

At Moorings Park Grande Lake, the third community in Moorings Park's retirement offerings, Suffolk, Ford Drywall & Stucco and Dusty Robotics used robotics and advanced scanning technology autonomously print construction layouts directly onto concrete floors while crews monitor exterior wall placement from a tablet-controlled laser scanner.

Suffolk also is implementing its new "Jobsite of the Future" operating model in the Phase 2 expansion at Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW).

Moorings Park Grande Lake is the new Life Plan Community being developed by Moorings Park and London Bay Homes situated on 55 acres off Golden Gate Parkway between Airport Pulling Road and Livingston Road. The current construction is Suffolk's 15th building on the campus, Suffolk General Manager Ben Wilson told the Naples Daily News.

Suffolk maps out blueprints on concrete to guide tradespeople

"At this juncture, the most exciting thing is the types of technologies that we're deploying to help do this, I would say, in a way that's beyond what's existing in the market or exercise on other campuses," Wilson said.

The goal is not to replace builders, but to give project teams more time to focus on delivering complex projects safely, efficiently and successfully.

For example, a drywall crew walks in and the blueprint is printed on the concrete floor, and they know exactly where the walls go, said John Ford, president of Ford Drywall & Stucco.

"I think every answer to every question always comes down to three things in the practicality of the business is quality first, schedules next, and labor efficiency third," Ford said. "So, you tie that up into a bow with technology and what Ford's delivering right now on the Moorings Park project for Ben is on the front end, the first thing that starts on a raw concrete slab is the layout. The layout is mapping out everything that goes per the blueprint in a location with a dimension, our robotic layout system now is, to say it simply, is a printer, and everything that we have on the blueprint can be now printed within a 16th of an inch accuracy in a smooth, steady flow with words, designs, shapes, images."

J. Kyle Foster is a senior growth & development reporter for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach her by emailing jfoster1@usatodayco.com.

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