Feasibility of Collaborative Robot-Assisted Wall Laying Using Interlocking Compressed Earth Blocks

Masonry laying remains one of the least mechanised construction trades, while the interlocking compressed earth block (ICEB) remains one of the least mechanised low-carbon walling materials at the placement stage. The paper argues the two problems solve each other: the properties masonry robotics has had to engineer at cost (mortarless assembly, self-aligning interlock geometry, dimensional uniformity and low unit mass) already exist in the ICEB, a unit codified by Indian Standards. A framework for a collaborative laying cell is proposed, comprising a block feed, a force-limited arm, two-camera perception and a wall-plan sequencer, with the mason retaining corners, openings, reinforcement and grouting. Four feasibility results follow from codal values and published measurements: a lead-in clearance of 6.9 mm absorbs the codal block tolerance (±2 mm) and demonstrated cell accuracy (2.90 mm), while course accumulation requires per-batch calibration of the effective block dimension; code-derived unit masses of 1.2–9.9 kg sit within 12–16 kg collaborative-arm payloads; and the laying rate reaches 70–130 blocks per hour with relocations amortised. Deployment is constrained by block supply and by the infill fraction of the wall, not by arm speed. The framework is analytical and awaits physical validation, for which success criteria are stated.