FBR Limited announced that the company's next-generation Hadrian X® robot has laid its first blocks, autonomously passing blocks through the entire robotic system before laying them. Having successfully demonstrated the ability to autonomously lay blocks, the program will now move to a testing and calibration phase in which the team will optimise the next-generation Hadrian X® system, increasing the laying speed of the Hadrian X® before commencing field testing in the next quarter. A second next-generation Hadrian X® is in the manufacturing phase.

The next-generation Hadrian X® features a shuttle block delivery system designed to be able to lay at speeds of up to 500 blocks per hour, which would enable the completion of a standard double-brick house in a single day. The next-generation Hadrian X® can lay any existing commercially available blocks, as well as blocks not yet available on the market, including large blocks measuring up to 600mm x 400mm x 300mm and weighing up to 45kg.