Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development issued a notice on the solicitation and selection of pilot cities for intelligent construction, deciding to solicit and select some cities to carry out intelligent construction pilot projects, promote the transformation of the construction industry towards digital design, intelligent construction, building robots, and other aspects, and stimulate a number of new industries, new business models, and new forms through the creation of intelligent construction industry clusters.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development said that the focus of this pilot project is to build an intelligent construction industrial base, improve the industrial chain, cultivate a group of engineering general contracting enterprises with the ability to solve intelligent construction systems, as well as building construction, survey and design, equipment manufacturing, information technology and other supporting enterprises, develop new industries such as digital design, intelligent production, intelligent construction, intelligent operation and maintenance, construction robots, and the construction industry Internet, and create an intelligent construction industry cluster.

Ding Lieyun, academician of the CAE Member: Our current construction method is still an extensive construction method, which mainly depends on human investment. With the development of the economy and society, it is necessary to shift from the current extensive and fragmented construction methods to high-quality development.

Ding Lieyun stated that China is a major construction country, with a total output value of 29 trillion yuan in the construction industry in 2021. However, the development of the traditional construction industry is currently constrained by multiple factors, and the digital transformation and upgrading of the construction industry is imperative. Therefore, the 14th Five Year Plan explicitly proposes the development of intelligent construction, which is listed as an important part of promoting the construction of new cities and comprehensively improving urban quality at the national level.

To this end, during the pilot process, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development also provided four tasks for local governments to choose from based on actual conditions: building intelligent factories for component parts, promoting technology research and development and achievement transformation, improving standard systems, and cultivating professional talents. At the same time, pilot cities can also propose new task directions according to the pilot objectives. In addition, this pilot project will also promote the establishment of cross departmental collaborative promotion mechanisms in pilot cities, forming replicable and promotable intelligent construction policy systems, development paths, and regulatory models, providing experience and reference for the comprehensive promotion of intelligent construction.

During the 14th Five Year Plan period, high-quality development has become the key word in the construction industry. In recent years, the country has continuously introduced a series of policy measures around intelligent construction, encouraging the application of digitalization and artificial intelligence in the construction industry. At present, construction robots have been put into use on construction sites in some places, assisting in the construction of smart construction sites and promoting the development of intelligent construction.

Hanging fabric robot, this is a new type of construction robot that was just put into use in Wuhan this year. It is suspended and installed under the residential building machine, which can achieve autonomous operation, precise zoning of fabric, and can improve work efficiency by more than 15%. At this construction site in Liangjiang New District, Chongqing, this ground leveling robot is working under the scorching sun. This type of robot has a construction efficiency of over 150 square meters per hour and can achieve one-time shaping of the floor. Its construction efficiency and leveling accuracy are much higher than manual operations.

Construction worker: This machine has a relatively high efficiency. Normally, our master can finish it in two hours, but it only takes half an hour to complete it. The effect it produces is much better than many of our master craftsmen.

At this construction site in Jiangmen, Guangdong, construction robots have even achieved multiple coordinated operations. The intelligent follow-up fabric machine lays the freshly mixed concrete on the floor, and then the ground leveling robot and smoothing robot work in sequence to evenly level the concrete. The fabric work that used to require more than ten people can now be completed by only eight people; On the other hand, wall polishing robots, spraying robots, etc. can perform decoration operations in the room with an efficiency of 2 to 3 times that of traditional methods. In the eyes of industry experts, the widespread use of construction robots will greatly promote the development of intelligent construction level.

Ding Lieyun, academician of the CAE Member: The combination of modern information technology and advanced construction methods for transformation and upgrading can further improve our labor productivity and form many new development opportunities. Previously, 13 ministries including the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development issued opinions, clearly stating that by 2025, they will promote the formation of a group of intelligent construction leading enterprises and create an upgraded version of "China Construction". Not long ago, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development and the National Development and Reform Commission issued the Implementation Plan for Carbon Peak in the Field of Urban and Rural Construction, which further defined the promotion of intelligent construction, the cultivation of 100 intelligent construction industry bases by 2030, the creation of a number of construction industry Internet platforms, and the formation of a series of landmark products of construction robots.

Last month, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also announced the list of excellent robot application scenarios in agriculture, construction and other fields. Industry insiders have stated that, driven by a series of policy measures and with the advantages of scale and strong investment, it is expected that intelligent construction technology represented by construction robots will usher in a golden period of rapid development in China in the coming years.