Q-Bot

Q-Bot was founded in 2012 with the objective of using robotics and advanced manufacturing techniques to revolutionise the building and construction industry. The company is funded through a combination of government grants, private investment and sales revenue, and has been supported by ClimateKIC, InnovateUK, The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and the EU Commission's H2020 program. The company employees 25 people and is based in Wandsworth, London. Q-Bot vision is to create smarter tools for the construction, maintenance, and upgrade of buildings. These robotic tools allow workers to remotely inspect and carry out a range of operations in hard to reach areas, such as crawl spaces, at height, or where there are other hazards which makes human access undesirable. The initial focus is under floor insulation, an application which is cost prohibitive and impractical without robots. Q-Bot has developed the first affordable and scalable solution to this problem, using a unique robotic device called SprayBot to apply insulation in situ. SprayBot can access the building through an external opening, performs a visual analysis, and builds up a 3D map of the space; it then applies the insulation, before finally inspecting the job done, thus facilitating quality control and validating energy savings. In a highly competitive insulation market, robots empower installers, making their work more efficient and safer while insuring the work is carried out at a lower cost, with minimum disruption, and within a very short timeframe.