DEWALT has launched DALE, a fleet-capable downward drilling robot built with August Robotics, targeting concrete drilling workflows that can bottleneck data center construction schedules. The system is positioned for around-the-clock operation and is now available for commercial order.

DEWALT describes DALE as the world’s first fleet-capable downward drilling robot. The company says the robot uses fast-swap batteries and remote monitoring to keep utilization high on active jobsites, including multi-shift drilling work.

In a year-long pilot with “one of the world’s most influential technology leaders,” DEWALT reports the robot drilled at speeds up to 10 times faster than traditional methods. DEWALT also reports a cumulative reduction of 190 weeks across 26 data center construction phases, plus 99.97% accuracy while drilling more than 230,000 holes.

DALE includes automatic dust extraction and AI-enhanced quality assurance, with the goal of leaving areas ready for follow-on mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) installation immediately after drilling. For data center builders, that’s the practical value: when slab drilling, anchors, and rack-stop layouts slip, MEP sequencing slips with them, and “catching up later” is usually expensive.

“The downward drilling robot’s year-long pilot with one of the world’s most influential technology leaders powerfully demonstrated its ability to accelerate schedules, reduce costs, enhance precision, and elevate safety in downward drilling applications,” said Bill Beck, President, Tools & Outdoor, Stanley Black & Decker.

DEWALT says DALE runs on August Robotics’ autonomous, fleet-capable platform and is intended for high-capacity drilling for items like server rack stops and supports for MEP systems. More information is available at DEWALT and August Robotics.

Source: DEWALT