Transcription of The Stock Network Interview with FBR (ASX:FBR) Co-founder, CEO, Mark Pivac
Lel Smits: FBR is a robotic technology business that builds dynamically stabilised robots, which utilise the company’s Dynamic Stabilisation Technology, DST, to effectively operate in an outdoor environment. The group is advancing the commercialisation push for its Hadrian X fully automated robotic bricklaying system designed to build structural walls faster, safer, more accurately and with less wastage than traditional manual methods. Joining me today is FBR co-founder, CEO and the primary inventor of FBR’s technology, Mark Pivac. Mark, welcome to the Stock Network.
Mark Pivac: Thanks, good to be here.
Lel Smits: Now, Hadrian X autonomously constructs structural walls based on 3D computer-aided design models created through the company’s proprietary Dynamic Stabilisation Technology that you invented. Can you outline what makes this technology globally unique? And also, can you tell us about the construction projects that Hadrian X has successfully completed in Australia and the US?
Mark Pivac: Yes, so Hadrian enables precision robotics to be taken outdoors. So, robotics is no longer just restricted to the factory floor. And the outdoor construction environment is really challenging because you have wind and it’s a very variable environment. And we solve those challenges by having a long boom, which is quickly deployed on the back of the Hadrian trucks and dynamic stabilisation, which means that any movement or errors in the boom position are actually corrected in real time by a highly dynamic robot at the end, which enables us to place with precision bricks, blocks and any other objects. So, we’ve already completed 42 different structures around the world, 32 here in Western Australia and 10 in Florida. And we’re really excited to be entering this commercial phase where we’re rolling it out to the wider construction community.
Lel Smits: Fantastic. Looking more at that commercialisation push, the research and development phase of the Hadrian X technology has now concluded with the product entering the commercialisation phase, as you mentioned. What commercial opportunities do you see for this technology in Australia and internationally?
Mark Pivac: Yeah, well, as we know, there’s a housing crisis here in Western Australia and also around all of Australia and the globe. So, there’s a massive underbuild. We’re here to help builders build with speed, accuracy, safety and waste reduction. And we see that as really contributing to the global supply of housing, which will eventually push the cost down or make it more affordable for people and more importantly, enable builders to increase the supply of good quality housing.
Lel Smits: Absolutely. Now, you’re also exploring adjacent commercial opportunities, which leverage the existing IP suite developed through the Hadrian X research and development program. What other industries could your dynamic stabilisation technology be applied to?
Mark Pivac: Yeah, so the obvious ones are anything that requires bricks to be placed over a big area and there’s a massive opportunity in the steel industry, where they are continually using refractory bricks to line and insulate against the high heat. So, we’re looking at that and working with a few big players in that game. And we’ve also been approached by Samsung Heavy Industries to help them automate the shipbuilding industry, which of course is a massive industry globally. And we’re really excited to be involved in that. Some incredible opportunities there and an exciting phase for the company now with commercialisation ramping up.
Lel Smits: Thank you, Mark, for the update today.
Mark Pivac: Thank you, Lelde. It’s a pleasure.
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