Bricklaying robot, first in Alabama, helps with construction at Auburn | AL.COM

SAM, a brick-laying robot, is assisting with the construction of the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center at Auburn University.

SAM100, short for Semi-Automated Mason, will be the first of its kind in Alabama. It lays more than 3,000 bricks per day, using a conveyor belt and a robotic arm. Auburn University and Construction Robotics have partnered together to bring SAM to life on campus.

Construction Robotics, located in Victor, New York, created SAM to “leverage human jobs, not replace them.” According to the MIT Technology Review, human masons can lay 300 to 500 bricks a day — three times less than SAM.

SAM will be operated by C&C Masonry, Inc. Masons work around SAM to reload bricks and mortar into the machine while cleaning the bricks placed by SAM’s robotic arm.

The Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center is 23 percent complete and will be completed in August 2019. The center will be located across from the Jule Collins Museum of Fine Art.