#41 - Tessa Lau, Founder & CEO at Dusty Robotics
Slice of Construction Team
04/02/2025
Join us in this exciting episode of the Slice of Construction podcast, hosted by Jared S. Taylor! Our Guest: Tessa Lau, Founder & CEO at Dusty Robotics.
What you’ll get out of this episode:
- The Inspiration Behind Dusty Robotics – Tessa Lau’s journey from AI and automation to revolutionizing construction with robotics.
- How Dusty Robotics Works – A breakdown of the field printer and how it enhances construction layout accuracy.
- Adoption & Challenges – Overcoming skepticism and achieving industry-leading accuracy.
- Robotics & Construction Misconceptions – It’s not about replacing labor, but improving quality and efficiency.
- Entrepreneurial Lessons – Tessa’s insights on resilience, adaptation, and leading through challenges.
Watch
Listen
Read More
From AI to Robotics: A Founder’s Journey
Tessa Lau, Founder & CEO of Dusty Robotics, started in AI and software automation before making the leap into robotics in 2012. She was drawn to robotics because, unlike software, robots physically change the world by moving atoms, not just bits. Her journey led her to Willow Garage, a leading robotics research lab, and later to co-founding Savioke, which developed autonomous delivery robots for hotels.
The inspiration for Dusty Robotics came unexpectedly—during a home remodel. She noticed a glaring absence of automation in construction and saw an opportunity to bridge the gap. Recognizing the industry's reliance on manual labor and the growing skilled labor shortage, she and her co-founder spent months observing job sites, identifying layout as a prime candidate for automation.
How Dusty Robotics is Transforming Construction
At the heart of Dusty Robotics is the field printer, a robotic system that takes digital designs and prints them full-scale on the construction floor. This innovation eliminates the need for workers to manually measure and mark layouts, reducing human error and enhancing efficiency.
The system integrates with Revit, AutoCAD, and other design software, ensuring precise layout execution. By replacing traditional chalk lines with an automated, millimeter-accurate layout, the robot turns construction into a "paint-by-numbers" process, streamlining communication and workflow on job sites.
Overcoming Skepticism & Driving Adoption
Construction is known for its slow adoption of technology, but Dusty Robotics is proving that perception wrong. At first, crews and superintendents were skeptical—some even dismissed the technology outright. However, after witnessing the robot’s accuracy and efficiency, many became strong advocates.
One of the biggest challenges was ensuring industry-leading accuracy. Dusty Robotics has developed the most precise mobile robot in the world, achieving a 1/16-inch accuracy—critical for modular and prefab construction, where precision is paramount.
The presence of competitors like HP has actually helped validate the market, shifting conversations from "Will this work?" to "Which solution is best?"
Robotics in Construction: Common Misconceptions
One of the biggest misconceptions about robotics in construction is that it’s about replacing labor. According to Tessa, it's actually about enhancing quality. A case in point: a project in Texas where crews had to redo layouts four times due to inaccuracies. Dusty Robotics helps prevent such costly errors by ensuring that layouts are precise from the start, improving overall build quality.
Another unexpected benefit is improved communication on multilingual job sites. Dusty’s field printer has been used to print instructions in Spanish for crews in Mexico, bridging language barriers and ensuring clarity in execution.
Lessons in Entrepreneurship: The Power of Resilience
For Tessa, one of the most important traits of a founder is resilience. Startups face countless challenges—technological hurdles, market adoption struggles, and unexpected failures. What separates successful entrepreneurs is the ability to get back up, adapt, and push forward.
One particularly tough moment? Early in Dusty Robotics’ journey, a Wi-Fi congestion issue in downtown San Francisco caused a robot to misprint a layout inside a Whole Foods project. The superintendent was livid, kicking the robot off the site. At the time, it was a nightmare. In hindsight, it’s a funny and pivotal learning experience that led to better technology.
The Future of Robotics in Construction
Dusty Robotics is helping reshape how buildings are constructed. By digitizing the layout process, it’s improving efficiency, reducing costly mistakes, and fostering better collaboration between teams. As the construction industry embraces automation, innovations like Dusty Robotics will play a pivotal role in making projects faster, more accurate, and more efficient.
For those looking to integrate robotics into their workflows, Tessa’s journey is a testament to the power of identifying industry gaps, embracing technology, and staying resilient through challenges.
