About:

There’s a lot of excitement in robotics about applications in manufacturing and warehouse logistics (see: Figure, Tesla, Agility Robotics), in-home assistance (see: 1X Robotics), and even construction (see: Built Robotics, Canvas, Dusty Robotics).

While these advances are promising, we believe there’s a critical blind spot:

Our built heritage.

Historic buildings are increasingly at risk, caught in a destructive cycle:

• There's a growing shortage of skilled heritage maintenance and construction workers, and fewer young people are entering these fields each year.

• This scarcity drives up the costs of hiring heritage specialists, forcing building owners to defer maintenance until it becomes urgent, dangerous, and even more expensive.

• Many of these buildings will be abandoned or demolished without affordable solutions, leading to an irreplaceable loss of cultural history.

• The effects of climate change (droughts, hurricanes, flooding, etc) are damaging these assets and making it more expensive to maintain, insure, and safeguard these buildings.

• As the number of heritage buildings declines, there’s less work for specialists, reducing career opportunities in this field. This only deepens the skills shortage, further driving up costs.

Without intervention, this cycle will continue to destroy our architectural heritage. In the UK, around 1,300 heritage assets are at risk (increases by ~10% YoY), while in the US, more than 97,000 properties are recognized for their historic significance. We believe robotics can provide a solution that preserves the past while embracing the future.