A drilling robot built for data center construction has already punched more than 385,000 holes into concrete, and DEWALT says it did so with over 99 percent accuracy.

DALE, developed with mobile robotics company August Robotics, is designed to handle the repetitive drilling needed to install server racks and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Unlike a machine built for a single work area, DALE is designed to operate as part of a fleet.

The machine can drill at up to 10 times the speed of conventional methods. Its pilot deployments also helped cut more than 300 weeks from 44 data center construction phases, according to DEWALT.

Concrete drilling is hardly the most glamorous part of building a data center. It is also one of the jobs that can consume enormous amounts of labor when projects require holes across thousands of square feet.

DALE is intended to take much of that repetition out of the hands of construction crews. The robot can move through a work area, position itself, and drill according to the required layout.

Remote monitoring lets operators oversee its work without standing beside the machine for every hole. Fast-swap batteries can also get the robot back to work without lengthy interruptions.

Dust extraction happens automatically during drilling. The system also checks its work using AI-based quality assurance, giving crews another layer of verification before subsequent installation begins.

The more interesting part of DALE may be its ability to work as a fleet. Large data center projects can span enormous construction areas and involve several work fronts at once.

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