Robots pull hole information from the building CAD plans and accurately drill within about 1/8 in. (3.1 mm). | Credit: DEWALT
DEWALT and August Robotics have partnered to deliver an autonomous concrete floor drilling system. It features an industrial DEWALT drilling rig mounted to the August Robotics autonomous mobile robot, or AMR.
The offering targets the growing market opportunity for data center construction, which requires intensive site preparation for server rack installation. Developers must bolt data center racks to the floor, which requires drilling thousands of holes into the concrete slab.
August Robotics launched its first Lionel robot in 2019. The AMR is designed for exhibition floor marking and industrial layout. Lionel makes every mark to at least +/- 1/8 in. (3.175 mm) accuracy, measuring each mark independently and avoiding the accumulation of errors.
Through the development of Lionel, August Robotics said it mastered the process of indoor positioning accuracy and optimized the user experience. Lionel works from the CAD file for the building or exposition center, which is easy to set up and operate onsite.
August Robotics sees new opportunity with hole drilling
The DEWALT drilling rig is mounted to the August Robotics AMR base. | Credit: DEWALT
Drilling holes is a natural extension of Lionel’s core capabilities, said August Robotics. The new system combines Lionel’s autonomous indoor positioning capabilities with an industrial DEWALT concrete drilling machine.
The current platform is dual-branded as both DEWALT and August Robotics, carrying both logos on the product.
The partners said the advantages of a robot-mounted drill include speed, accuracy, traceability, and a measurable return on investment. The system compresses the data center floor prep schedule from eight to nine weeks of layout plus drilling down to about seven to nine days with four robots.
Other potential benefits include improved safety, reduced fatigue, and the freeing up of skilled workers/apprentices for higher-value tasks. DEWALT, a unit of Stanley Black & Decker Inc., claimed that the system delivers strong unit economics with the cost per hole reduced from more than $60 to around $20.
The joint offering has already generated 21,000 hours of labor capacity in the first six months, through the automation of the drilling process, said the companies.
Alex Schickling, director of robotics at DEWALT, told The Robot Report that “with the early access program, 12 robots are currently in the field, having drilled 108,000 holes with 99.97% placement accuracy. Meanwhile, the core August Robotics Lionel solution has printed more than 300 million sq. ft. [27.8 million sq. m] of floor space.”
“The robot doesn’t mind if there are other things on the floor or not,” he continued. “It’s got the technology to make sure it’s not going to run into anything — it comes from multiple angles if something is blocked, to try to get it from different angles. Whether it’s a new build, it’s a warehouse, it’s a data center, any building that’s got a concrete floor, an open area to drill, it’s going to work very well in.”
DEWALT still devising go-to-market strategy
DEWALT said its go-to-market strategy for the drilling robots is still in an early/experimental phase and not fully finalized. According to Schickling, the company expects the robotic drilling system to be available commercially midyear 2026. It demonstrated the product at the World of Concrete Trade Show in Las Vegas last week.
Both DEWALT and August Robotics sales teams will work with their respective partners to develop a fleet of robots in the field.
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