Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business Interview. I'm Sean Aylmer. Listeners get in touch with us all the time on this podcast. Sometimes it's a common about a story. Sometimes they've got feedback. Sometimes it's because they're doing something a bit different and want to tell people about it. Today's interview is one of those. Recently we were contacted by Joel Bell, a former Australian Army engineer now living and working in North Carolina in the US. Also a fan of Fear and Greed for the last five years, so we like that. He's a director of Bot Built b U T b U I L T bot Built, a startup using robots to build houses. Joel joins me this morning from the US. Joel, Welcome the Fear and Greed.

Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business Interview. I'm Sean Aylmer. Listeners get in touch with us all the time on this podcast. Sometimes it's a common about a story. Sometimes they've got feedback. Sometimes it's because they're doing something a bit different and want to tell people about it. Today's interview is one of those. Recently we were contacted by Joel Bell, a former Australian Army engineer now living and working in North Carolina in the US. Also a fan of Fear and Greed for the last five years, so we like that. He's a director of Bot Built b U T b U I L T bot Built, a startup using robots to build houses. Joel joins me this morning from the US. Joel, Welcome the Fear and Greed.

Hey, Sean nicely on the call. Long time listener, first time caller. Is that how we do it?

Hey, Sean nicely on the call. Long time listener, first time caller. Is that how we do it?

That's something like that that'll do? Tell me Bot Built what is it exactly?

That's something like that that'll do? Tell me Bot Built what is it exactly?

So? Bob Build is a tech startup based in North Carolina. As you mentioned, we use robots to build homes and what that means is we rescue automotive robots who used to build cars. We say rescue because we buy them secondhand on eBay. We give them an a lily. Yeah literally, on eBay they go out of tolerance for automotive manufacturing. So we buy them, give them an AI powered brain, and we have them build house frames so the walls are the house. We use them to build those.

So? Bob Build is a tech startup based in North Carolina. As you mentioned, we use robots to build homes and what that means is we rescue automotive robots who used to build cars. We say rescue because we buy them secondhand on eBay. We give them an a lily. Yeah literally, on eBay they go out of tolerance for automotive manufacturing. So we buy them, give them an AI powered brain, and we have them build house frames so the walls are the house. We use them to build those.

Wow. Okay, and I presume if you've got robotics building the frames, things like tolerances and measurements and stuff like that are pretty spot on.

Wow. Okay, and I presume if you've got robotics building the frames, things like tolerances and measurements and stuff like that are pretty spot on.

Yeah. So the way the system works is we first take the PDF floorplan so you could send me a blueprint today. We have artificial intelligence that we've developed that reads that blueprint turns it into computer code. So we pick up every dimension, every door, every window, or the ceiling and floor joist layouts. We put that into the AI, which writes the code for the robots to follow. And then the really cool part is that we don't tell the robots how to build the house. We tell them what to build, but the artificial intelligence inside the robots goes ahead and plans all that all on their own, so there's no human involvement. We joke that all the humans have to do is reload the nail guns and the robots go ahead and build everything exactly as it's drawn on the plan by the engineer, very few errors. Every nail's perfect, every stud's in exactly the right place, which means that we get a really good result for the homeowner at the end, but also the builder saves time and money. It's a very cool product.

Yeah. So the way the system works is we first take the PDF floorplan so you could send me a blueprint today. We have artificial intelligence that we've developed that reads that blueprint turns it into computer code. So we pick up every dimension, every door, every window, or the ceiling and floor joist layouts. We put that into the AI, which writes the code for the robots to follow. And then the really cool part is that we don't tell the robots how to build the house. We tell them what to build, but the artificial intelligence inside the robots goes ahead and plans all that all on their own, so there's no human involvement. We joke that all the humans have to do is reload the nail guns and the robots go ahead and build everything exactly as it's drawn on the plan by the engineer, very few errors. Every nail's perfect, every stud's in exactly the right place, which means that we get a really good result for the homeowner at the end, but also the builder saves time and money. It's a very cool product.

How did you end up a lot in that? I'm going to go the AI part first, right, So how did you introduce AI into the process to the point that it can actually the robots can be told by AI what to do and how to build it.

How did you end up a lot in that? I'm going to go the AI part first, right, So how did you introduce AI into the process to the point that it can actually the robots can be told by AI what to do and how to build it.

So the first part is the reading of the plan, and if you think about it, that's the really human part. The human part is interpreting what's drawn on the page and turning that into usable code for the robots. So we have a large language model which everyone would have heard of before that we've trained. We've processed something like ten million square feet. I've been in the US so long now, I think in imperiod. I'm not sure if the comparison for that, but ten million square feet.

So the first part is the reading of the plan, and if you think about it, that's the really human part. The human part is interpreting what's drawn on the page and turning that into usable code for the robots. So we have a large language model which everyone would have heard of before that we've trained. We've processed something like ten million square feet. I've been in the US so long now, I think in imperiod. I'm not sure if the comparison for that, but ten million square feet.

You've still got the accent, Joel, It's okay, he's still one of us.

You've still got the accent, Joel, It's okay, he's still one of us.

Yeah, yeah, it gets me in a lot of doors in the us, which is great. They love Australians over here. But we've trained our AI on about ten million square feet of blueprints and what that means is that it recognizes everything that's on the blueprint. So it recognizes a door, it recognizes a dimension, a toilet, cook top, anything that's on the plan, that AI will read it because that's what we've taught it to do. The next part of the AI is what's called motion planning. So the CTO Barrett, who's the one of the co founders, he used to work at NASA. He used to build robots for NASA, and then when did his PhD at Duke University over here in North Carolina, and his PhD was all about motion planning, which is where the robots do their own mathematics so that they're intelligent. They plan their own movements based on the shape of the house we've told them to build. So we just stack two by four studs up next to them. They go and pick up the wood, place it on the table, cut it, nail it all all on their own and so it's a two step process there reading the plans and then planning their own motions.

Yeah, yeah, it gets me in a lot of doors in the us, which is great. They love Australians over here. But we've trained our AI on about ten million square feet of blueprints and what that means is that it recognizes everything that's on the blueprint. So it recognizes a door, it recognizes a dimension, a toilet, cook top, anything that's on the plan, that AI will read it because that's what we've taught it to do. The next part of the AI is what's called motion planning. So the CTO Barrett, who's the one of the co founders, he used to work at NASA. He used to build robots for NASA, and then when did his PhD at Duke University over here in North Carolina, and his PhD was all about motion planning, which is where the robots do their own mathematics so that they're intelligent. They plan their own movements based on the shape of the house we've told them to build. So we just stack two by four studs up next to them. They go and pick up the wood, place it on the table, cut it, nail it all all on their own and so it's a two step process there reading the plans and then planning their own motions.

So what's the finished product when it leaves builds factory. What does it look like.

So what's the finished product when it leaves builds factory. What does it look like.

So you get the wall panels or the wallframes we call them in Australia, very very common. Almost every house in Australia is built from factory built wall frames. We'll shift them to site, stand them up and you get all the benefits of the speed and accuracy on site. Int of what's very common here is stick building. So you have a team of framers who would just get a pile of lumber and build the house from it. We prefabricate it so it's much faster and more cost efficient. Yeah.

So you get the wall panels or the wallframes we call them in Australia, very very common. Almost every house in Australia is built from factory built wall frames. We'll shift them to site, stand them up and you get all the benefits of the speed and accuracy on site. Int of what's very common here is stick building. So you have a team of framers who would just get a pile of lumber and build the house from it. We prefabricate it so it's much faster and more cost efficient. Yeah.

So how much cheaper is it?

So how much cheaper is it?

We think we can take about just with this product, we can take ten percent off the cost of building a house, which is significant. It costs about five hundred thousand dollars build a house, say fifty thousand dollars. That's a significant saving.

We think we can take about just with this product, we can take ten percent off the cost of building a house, which is significant. It costs about five hundred thousand dollars build a house, say fifty thousand dollars. That's a significant saving.

Okay, stay with me, Joel, we'll be back in a minute. My guest this morning is Joel Bell, director of bot Build. I'd like to know how you, Joel, ended up in North Carolina at bot Build as the founder of bote Build, given that your background is in engineering but with the military.

Okay, stay with me, Joel, we'll be back in a minute. My guest this morning is Joel Bell, director of bot Build. I'd like to know how you, Joel, ended up in North Carolina at bot Build as the founder of bote Build, given that your background is in engineering but with the military.

Yeah, so I was an Army engineer for a long time. I did that for about sixteen years in total. Quit that back in twenty twenty three. I then did an MBA at Melbourne Business School. Shout out to m very good business school for those that are considering doing an MBA. I had the opportunity to do in exchange here in North Carolina at the University of North Carolina at a great business school here. Came over here, fell in love with the place. It's a really beautiful part of the world, North Carolina. The people were wonderful. There's a lot of a lot of tech development here. It's a real research center, a lot of business going on. It's a real growth area as well. I'd spent a lot of time in the US with the military. I really like Americans and working with them, so I've been thinking about coming here for a little while. And then, of course I met a pretty girl, My wonderful girlfriend, Courtney, gave me a real reason to come back. So I found Bob Built just on LinkedIn, connected with the founders. They were looking for someone like me. At the same time. I was looking for a job, so a business degree and with a background in construction to build out some of this product. So I made a connection, came over here, and now I have a house and a baby on the way. So the Americans have stuck with me for a little while.

Yeah, so I was an Army engineer for a long time. I did that for about sixteen years in total. Quit that back in twenty twenty three. I then did an MBA at Melbourne Business School. Shout out to m very good business school for those that are considering doing an MBA. I had the opportunity to do in exchange here in North Carolina at the University of North Carolina at a great business school here. Came over here, fell in love with the place. It's a really beautiful part of the world, North Carolina. The people were wonderful. There's a lot of a lot of tech development here. It's a real research center, a lot of business going on. It's a real growth area as well. I'd spent a lot of time in the US with the military. I really like Americans and working with them, so I've been thinking about coming here for a little while. And then, of course I met a pretty girl, My wonderful girlfriend, Courtney, gave me a real reason to come back. So I found Bob Built just on LinkedIn, connected with the founders. They were looking for someone like me. At the same time. I was looking for a job, so a business degree and with a background in construction to build out some of this product. So I made a connection, came over here, and now I have a house and a baby on the way. So the Americans have stuck with me for a little while.

Congratulations, well done, how big bot built At this point.

Congratulations, well done, how big bot built At this point.

We've built forty houses at this point, so it's not a sciences sperm anymore. But we are still a startup, so we're on that journey, which has also been really fascinating to observe how that goes. Raising funds, building out the business, funding your customers, getting the product out there, doing the marketing, which is a lot of the stuff that I work on. It's fun. I'm not the robot guy. I get to go out and sell the robots, which is the fund yet and I get to talk on podcasts like this about how great the product is. But yeah, we're looking to scale up now. So we've got a product that works, we've got a product that customers really like, and then looking to scale so how big can you get? We see this being in every state in the US and internationally, so we've had some discussions with Australian manufacturers. The product works in Australia because timber is timber. Australian houses are very similar to American houses. There are some differences obviously, but the fun thing is we can have the AI teach itself how to build an Australian house. It's just a matter of training it on the Australian Building Code and we'll see robots building houses in Australia in the not too distant future. Is the plan?

We've built forty houses at this point, so it's not a sciences sperm anymore. But we are still a startup, so we're on that journey, which has also been really fascinating to observe how that goes. Raising funds, building out the business, funding your customers, getting the product out there, doing the marketing, which is a lot of the stuff that I work on. It's fun. I'm not the robot guy. I get to go out and sell the robots, which is the fund yet and I get to talk on podcasts like this about how great the product is. But yeah, we're looking to scale up now. So we've got a product that works, we've got a product that customers really like, and then looking to scale so how big can you get? We see this being in every state in the US and internationally, so we've had some discussions with Australian manufacturers. The product works in Australia because timber is timber. Australian houses are very similar to American houses. There are some differences obviously, but the fun thing is we can have the AI teach itself how to build an Australian house. It's just a matter of training it on the Australian Building Code and we'll see robots building houses in Australia in the not too distant future. Is the plan?

So what's the size of the price? You've built forty in an environment in the US where, to be honest, the building environment and this is just based on James Hardish sare price that rather than any particular knowledge hasn't been great the last couple of years.

So what's the size of the price? You've built forty in an environment in the US where, to be honest, the building environment and this is just based on James Hardish sare price that rather than any particular knowledge hasn't been great the last couple of years.

It really.

It really.

I mean that renovations have been good, but new builds hasn't been great. What's the outlook then, I mean, if you can build homes and be successful in a not say great environment, then plenty of opportunity.

I mean that renovations have been good, but new builds hasn't been great. What's the outlook then, I mean, if you can build homes and be successful in a not say great environment, then plenty of opportunity.

Yeah. One of the things that really struck me moving to the US is just the size of the opportunity. So we haven't seen a drop in new homes in the US, but they're building one point five million homes every year in this country and the vast majority of those are single family built from timber, so very very big market, very big opportunity and similar to Australia where builders have thin margins. It's a tough industry construction. They're looking to save wherever they can and home builders want a better product. In order to save money, we've had to cut costs and I don't think anyone would disagree that the quality of housing in Australia hasn't been improving. And in order to build more houses we need to innovate. And this is the key here. It works. We're competing in a very strong market, but we're saving builders money and we're saving developers money and giving home owners a better product.

Yeah. One of the things that really struck me moving to the US is just the size of the opportunity. So we haven't seen a drop in new homes in the US, but they're building one point five million homes every year in this country and the vast majority of those are single family built from timber, so very very big market, very big opportunity and similar to Australia where builders have thin margins. It's a tough industry construction. They're looking to save wherever they can and home builders want a better product. In order to save money, we've had to cut costs and I don't think anyone would disagree that the quality of housing in Australia hasn't been improving. And in order to build more houses we need to innovate. And this is the key here. It works. We're competing in a very strong market, but we're saving builders money and we're saving developers money and giving home owners a better product.

So it works saving money. I presume safety is another issue, which when you've got robots doing it rather than individuals, that's probably benefit there too.

So it works saving money. I presume safety is another issue, which when you've got robots doing it rather than individuals, that's probably benefit there too.

Yeah. So my dad Mick Bell, shout out dad. He used to run a wall frame a RIF Trust plant and he's been a carp under his whole life. And his hands tell the story. I like to talk about this. So he's had a number of surgeries on his hands because it's backbreaking work building. It's difficult, you're out in the sun all day, takes a long time and it's very manual and so if we can displace some of that very dangerous work, then that's a benefit there. The phrase we use in robotics is dirty, dull, and dangerous is what robots are good for. And this is definitely in the dull and dangerous bracket. So if we can have robots help out humans, make it faster, improve humans productivity, and that's a win for everybody.

Yeah. So my dad Mick Bell, shout out dad. He used to run a wall frame a RIF Trust plant and he's been a carp under his whole life. And his hands tell the story. I like to talk about this. So he's had a number of surgeries on his hands because it's backbreaking work building. It's difficult, you're out in the sun all day, takes a long time and it's very manual and so if we can displace some of that very dangerous work, then that's a benefit there. The phrase we use in robotics is dirty, dull, and dangerous is what robots are good for. And this is definitely in the dull and dangerous bracket. So if we can have robots help out humans, make it faster, improve humans productivity, and that's a win for everybody.

I got to ask you, Joel, what's your dad think about you doing via robotics what he spent his life laboring on.

I got to ask you, Joel, what's your dad think about you doing via robotics what he spent his life laboring on.

It's just another tool, It's the next evolution my dad. My dad did his apprenticeship before power tools, which probably dates him, but he talks about buying his first ever electric drill after he finishes apprenticeship, and it's just the next evolution of that. It's the future. We talk a lot in Australia and across the West. It's the problem here in the US as well of an aging population struggling to get young people to join the trades. There's a labor shortage across the market. The only way to improve that is through automation and robotics. This is an area that's been severely lacking in innovation in that space for a while.

It's just another tool, It's the next evolution my dad. My dad did his apprenticeship before power tools, which probably dates him, but he talks about buying his first ever electric drill after he finishes apprenticeship, and it's just the next evolution of that. It's the future. We talk a lot in Australia and across the West. It's the problem here in the US as well of an aging population struggling to get young people to join the trades. There's a labor shortage across the market. The only way to improve that is through automation and robotics. This is an area that's been severely lacking in innovation in that space for a while.

Good luck with a Joel and thank you for talking to Fear and Greed.

Good luck with a Joel and thank you for talking to Fear and Greed.

Appreciate it. Sean.

Appreciate it. Sean.

That was Joel Bell, director at Bot Built. This is the Fear and Greed Business Interview. Join us every morning for the full episode of Fear and Greed business news you can use. I'm Sean Elmer. Enjoy your day.

That was Joel Bell, director at Bot Built. This is the Fear and Greed Business Interview. Join us every morning for the full episode of Fear and Greed business news you can use. I'm Sean Elmer. Enjoy your day.