ABB Robotics and AUAR to build groundbreaking, climate-neutral research facility

ABB Robotics and construction technology company AUAR are working together to build “ConstrucThor”, a groundbreaking research facility in Belgium, showcasing the future of sustainable construction. The project will harness AUAR’s micro-factories technology and is assembled using an automated construction process powered by ABB robots.

The ConstrucThor project will create a climate-neutral, large-scale testing infrastructure at the OpenThor Living Lab in Thor Park, Genk, Belgium. This educational initiative brings together various research lines from Belgium’s renowned KU Leuven University and industry partners to develop strategies and solutions for advancing towards a climate-neutral building industry.

Together, AUAR and ABB Robotics have been working on automating building processes with robotic mobile micro-factories that build cost-effective and high-quality timber frame panels for walls, floors and roofs. AUAR’s automated construction system uses ABB’s cutting-edge robotics for executing tasks such as modular assembly which help to optimize the construction process. These advanced robots, equipped with vision and AI capabilities, boost speed, flexibility, and consistency, so panels and housing structures can be made quickly, with reduced waste. For example, a robotic micro-factory can manufacture the core and shell of a single home in less than 12 hours, which can then be assembled on-site rapidly.



AUAR and ABB have developed an innovative approach to deploying robots in a global network of local micro-factories, allowing housing to be manufactured close to its final locations with minimal onsite construction required. Demonstrating the potential of this method, AUAR has already launched micro-factories in the UK, Belgium, and the US, including two in the Midwest. Next year, they plan to expand this network to a total of 10 micro-factories, adding seven partners across Europe and North America.