SurveyBot

One of the most pressing challenges when addressing Climate Change is energy use of
buildings. Since most of homes that will be with us by 2050 have already been built,
retrofitting them with energy efficiency measures is essential. Many of the existing measures
to retrofit insulation to our homes and make them more energy efficient are labour intensive,
hugely disruptive, significantly impact the appearance of the building and are very expensive.
Q-Bot was set up in 2012 with the objective of using advanced manufacturing techniques and
automation to revolutionise the building and construction industry. By combining robotics and
advanced tools with one of the most pressing needs; upgrading our existing buildings to
improve energy efficiency, Q-Bot provides a real, scalable and cost effective solution to
meeting targets for CO2 reduction and affordable warmth without the hassle of traditional
methods.
In the UK suspended timber flooring has been identified as a major cause of heat loss from
buildings, and 95% of the UK’s 7.8 million homes built before 1920 have suspended timber
floors that remain uninsulated. Recent research has shown that un-insulated timber floors
contribute between 10% and 25% of total heat loss of buildings, totalling over 20,000,000
MWh of heat energy per annum.
Therefore Q-Bot is developing a robotics platform that can cost effectively survey, assess and
apply treatments, to our existing buildings, without the cost and disruption of current methods.
Insulating the floor with Q-Bot gets rid of cold draughts, makes cold floors warmer and lags
hot water pipes, as well as saving an estimated £200 - £400/year in lower energy bills for a
typical home