The agile inspection robot, known as Spot, is being tested on phase 3 of the project to track workers’ progress and ensure as-built meets as-designed.

Architect Foster is working with US robotics expert Boston Dynamics to trial the dog-bot in a live construction environment.

Foster’s Applied Research + Development group is exploring the potential of Spot in a construction site to audit progress

Spot climbs stairs and crosses rough terrain with ease as a tool to capture and monitor progression on-site.

The team devised a map to roughly set up the missions Spot needed to follow on site tasking it to scan certain areas and capture specific data.

Returning to the site on a weekly basis allowed Spot to re-run the same missions with the process yielding a sequence of highly comparable, consistent models.

Martha Tsigkari, Partner, Foster + Partners said: “The ability of Spot to repeatedly and effortlessly complete routine scans, in an ever-changing environment was invaluable not only in terms of the consistency but also the large amount of high-quality data collected.

“Through this process we developed a sequence of scans that may help us track the project progress against timeframes as well as facilitate regular comparisons against the BIM model.”

Spot has helped to construct a digital twin of the Foster + Partners campus in London.

Spot’s Autowalk functionality allowed the team to build up a four-dimensional model, showing how the space changes over time.

Scott Grant, Head of Phase 3 at Battersea Power Station, said, “We were delighted to assist Foster + Partners in using Battersea Roof Gardens as a test bed for Spot.

“The team explained how the robot can be used on a construction site and the various benefits it could bring. We were excited to see it in action and have enjoyed having Spot on site.”

27 kilo dog-bot Spot tucks up when at rest