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I DA U N I V E R S A L J u l y -Au g u s t 2 0 1 6 45 NUTS & BOLTS continued from page 25 A Japanese construction company is planning to develop machinery to construct buildings on the moon and Mars, reports e Nikkei. e company, Kajima, will work with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It is said it aims to have the construction machinery ready to work on the moon in 2030 and on Mars in 2040. e machinery should be ready to build a facility to accommodate four to six people on the moon around 2030 and on Mars around 2040. A problem with controlling construction machinery on the moon or Mars from Earth is the length of time it takes for a radio signal to travel. So the machines will have to commu- nicate with each other. JAXA selected Kajima's idea to develop machinery for construction in space for its Space Exploration Innova- tion Hub project, a three-way program among businesses, the government and academia. ● www.electronicsweekly.com/news, 6/16 Drones are taking off as a construction tool. What is interesting is that it is the little guys, that is, smaller contractors, who are most o en employing the small unmanned aerial vehicles. Proof of this is in a report from the Federal Aviation Administration. e agency is systematically issuing exemp- tions to applicants so that they can fl y drones without being fl agged for encroaching on public airspace. e FAA so far has issued more than 3,100 of these so-called Section 333 exemptions, and about 1,500 of them have gone to construc- tion-related applicants. According to the agency, construction fi rms booking less than $1 million in annual business volume and employing fewer than 10 Japanese Company to Build Construction Machinery for Moon and Mars FAA: Smaller Contractors Using Construction Drones the Most employees so far account for about 90 percent of the FAA's exemptions. at is a remark- able statistic that suggests smaller contractors see drones as everyday-project tools. Most drone work to date has been for cursory site inspections and similar eye-in-the-sky assignments. Yet the technology and its pilots are pushing ahead. Real estate developers are using the drones to photo- graph and videograph houses and properties, and at least one innovator reportedly is working on a paint drone so people don't have to get on ladders for second-story stuff . Advances are being made in synchronizing drones so a team of the aerial machines can independently, but cooper- atively, complete separate tasks in a project. So far, a rope bridge was constructed using three four-prop drones and a brick-like tower was erected with several drones hauling in the building blocks. However, most drones are not yet big enough to haul consequential amounts of material to roo ops or hard- to-reach parts of a work site. And still being developed are the interactive control and spatial systems sophisticated enough to warrant contractors investing in drone "crews." Yet drones are coming. You can almost hear them. e day is near of UAVs being commonplace pieces of construction equipment. And it is likely to happen fi rst at a small, neighborhood contractor near you. ● Kajima plans to send unmanned, automated construction machinery to Mars to lay groundwork for building facilities. Preprogrammed, fully automated bulldozer can work smoothly. Receiving instructions from Earth via radio takes time. Instructions sent from Earth by radio. Plan for automated construction system on Mars Nuts & Bolts continued on page 57