TOMOROBO

Summary

The TOMOROBO is a 38.5 kg battery-powered rebar tying robot that traverses horizontal rebar grids on dirt floors and slabs, activating two mounted tying tools at each detected intersection. It covers a single subtask within the concrete reinforcement job: tying rebar intersections across grids with 100 to 300 mm pitch, while rebar placement, spacer positioning, and all vertical or wall rebar work stay with the crew. The A1 model shipped in 2020 for small-diameter rebar (phi 10 to phi 16), and the A2 followed in 2021 for large diameters up to phi 32; KEN ROBOTECH reports deployments at 180+ construction sites across Japan and Singapore.

Rebar Placement and Tying

How it works on your site

Rebar Placement and Tying

The robot rides along the rebar grid and fires two tying tools at each intersection it detects, tying on both one-way and round-trip passes. Sensors adapt to pitch variances of +/- 20 mm and rebar width variances of +/- 40 mm without manual recalibration. A single switch selects one of three tying patterns: all intersections, every other, or every third. The crew still handles rebar placement, spacer coordination, vertical rebar, and manual repositioning of the 38.5 kg robot body between rows (unless the optional Slider or Operobo system is installed).

How it worked on other sites

Seven-day remote-operation demonstration (May 2023, Osaka) with six onboard cameras and cloud-based control.
Non-construction workers operated the robot remotely during the trial.
Vendor reported 80% replacement of manual rebar tying during the demo period.

Ongoing production deployments since 2020 across Japan and Singapore.
Rebar tying is the sole documented task across all sites.

30% productivity gain reported (vendor-stated), used as basis for government subsidy approval.
Rebar tying performed by unnamed construction company.

Robot also used by

DAIDOC Co., Ltd.

Will it work on your site

Spec Value

Surface Dirt floor rebar grid, slab rebar grid

Rebar pitch range 100 to 300 mm, adjustable in 25 mm increments

Rebar diameters A1: phi 10 to phi 16; A2: phi 16 to phi 32

Operating weight 38.5 kg (two persons for carrying)

Power Battery; 12-hour runtime (vendor-stated at 200 mm pitch, 25 C)

Charge time 6 hours for full charge

Slope tolerance 5 degrees maximum

Environment Outdoor with optional rain cover (up to 5 mm/hr, in-house tested). Humidity 0% to 80%.

Control Physical controller with single switch for tying pattern

Pre-job inputs No BIM, no pre-scan, no CAD prep

Tying speed 2.7 seconds per intersection (200 mm pitch, two tying tools) Vendor-stated; ABC Platform repeats figure without independent measurement

Geographic availability Japan (180+ sites); Singapore office incorporated Feb 2023; early-stage US and EU market entry Deployment count and client list are vendor-stated; Singapore entity confirmed by Leave a Nest

Summary

How it works on your site

Rebar Placement and Tying

How it worked on other sites

NTT West at NTT West former HQ redevelopment

Aggregate: 180+ construction sites

Singapore construction project

Robot also used by

Will it work on your site

Talk to KEN ROBOTECH CORPORATION