Acciona is also reported to be the first Spanish infrastructure company to continuously use this autonomous equipment, designed to improve the efficiency of a construction site’s design layout – in other words, the task of visualising the project’s planning data on the ground.

Thanks to the HP SitePrint robot, the company has managed to speed up the installation of the partition walls, achieving a layout pace said to be six times faster than the traditional method.

Based on plans entered into its operating system, the robot is able to directly print out lines and text on work surfaces. It’s also described as collaborative, because a human operator remains a key participant, preparing blueprints and operating the equipment.

The robot consists of a small mobile unit equipped with wheels and a print head specifically developed for this purpose. Its high performance and autonomy are said to significantly accelerate the execution of works, while maintaining accuracy in the drawing of lines and reducing the physical burden on surveyors.

By introducing the robot, the company says it has solved one of the project’s main construction challenges: the execution of the building’s interior partition walls in a 140,000m² slab area, with Acciona claiming to have executed more than 25,000m².

Serving more than 200,000 people, the new hospital will provide the region with modern technical assistance units, as well as inpatient and outpatient hospital units. The project includes the construction of a ten-storey building with capacity for 400 beds, as well as 127,000m² of green spaces. It also includes construction of a heliport and large parking areas, among other works.

With an investment of approximately €149 million, this is Acciona’s largest construction project in Portugal. The hospital is scheduled for completion in 2025.