Azimuth Technologies has been known for engineering smart automation in oil and gas. Now rebranded as Azimuth AI Construction, the team is taking those capabilities into new territory - construction robotics.
Partnering with Penta-Ocean Construction, a Japanese contractor recognised for marine and civil engineering megaprojects, they tackled a traditionally labour-intensive, dusty, and physically demanding bottleneck: the grinding of concrete surfaces on-site.
Azimuth’s robotic grinding system was developed to handle wall-surface rectification more safely and efficiently. It was designed to adapt to various on-site conditions and included features that directly responded to challenges observed during initial walkthroughs with Penta-Ocean’s team.
Key capabilities of the system include:
- An adaptive grinder head that adjusts to wall flatness and angles, ensuring precision;
- An integrated dust suction system to reduce airborne pollution and improve worker safety;
- And future plans for full autonomy, enabling the system to operate independently without manual control.
With this pilot, Azimuth demonstrated not only the robot’s technical potential but also the productivity benefits it could bring: up to 3× faster grinding speeds, improved surface quality, and a significantly safer working environment.
This collaboration has helped the Penta-Ocean team understand the full potential of automation for site works - going beyond theory into a tangible solution that could be deployed and scaled.
For Azimuth, BEAMP offered an opportunity to work closely with a major construction player on a high-impact pain point. Through structured feedback and real-time testing the team fine-tuned their system for rugged construction environments, and sharpened their understanding of site needs; providing a platform to validate and iterate their solution.
Azimuth is now expanding the robot’s capabilities, including developing autonomous navigation and exploring new use cases in construction finishing. For Penta-Ocean, this project has paved the way for wider adoption of robotics on their sites, starting with concrete grinding, but ultimately extending to more tasks across their operations.
Together, the partnership reflects BEAMP’s core mission: helping tech innovators and industry leaders co-develop real-world solutions that move the Built Environment forward.
Francis Tan
Director, Azimuth Technologies
