How robot carpenters could help solve Canada's housing crisis

Promise Robotics CEO Ramtin Attar with a few Kuka Industrial robots similar to ones fitted with custom tooling developed by Promise Robotics to perform complex construction tasks. Robots constructing homes may sound like science fiction. Yet a Toronto-based startup aims to make this futuristic idea a reality within the next year, leveraging advances in automation, advanced manufacturing, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). Promise Robotics was launched in 2019 by founders Ramtin Attar – a former technology lead at a multinational technology company – and Reza Nasseri, the chief executive officer of Landmark Homes. The technology company, which also has operations in Edmonton, seeks to bring emerging technologies to the home building industry to address the industry's biggest challenge: meeting the rising demand for housing amid a growing shortage of affordable homes.