SAM: One Robot, a Dozen Engineers, and the Race To Revolutionize the Way We Build

Waldman’s (Rust) latest, short for Semi Automated Mason, presents a compelling, well-paced, and engaging account of the innovations developed by the startup Construction Robotics. The narrative hinges on the motivations for developing an automated way to lay bricks and bring Silicon Valley-like “disruption” and “revolution” to the way builders work. Readers will come to appreciate how challenging the application of automation to construction is; construction sites are chaotic and do not lend themselves well to automation of the type that the group behind Construction Robotics is attempting. Each chapter does double duty introducing a problem facing the team while also personalizing the challenge faced by an individual engineer, architect, businessperson, or union member, to name a few. Through these in-depth vignettes of individuals and their motivations, readers learn about the automation technologies that the team will cobble together to bring their semiautomated mason to life.