Built Robotics and Sunstate Equipment Co. have formed the industry's first partnership to rent out autonomous construction equipment to contractors around the nation.

Built Robotics, founded in San Francisco in 2016, is the leading developer of autonomous equipment, including skid steers, compact track loaders, excavators, bulldozers and more. Sunstate Equipment, founded in Phoenix in 1977, provides construction, industrial, and special event companies with top-quality construction rental equipment and tools from locations in California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee.

The partnership between Built and Sunstate is supported by Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, a global industrial leader and parent company of Sunstate, and by its venture capital arm, Presidio Ventures, an investor in Built Robotics.

Key Takeaways

• Technology & Equipment: Built designs and manufactures an autonomous kit to upgrade off-the-shelf equipment from any brand. The kit allows remote equipment operators to upload job files, at which point the equipment can complete the work on its own. Sunstate will strategically select equipment from its fleet to upgrade, and then make it available for customers. The upgraded equipment can then be run using Built's autonomous software.
• Safety & Training: Built and Sunstate will partner to ensure that customers' personnel receive comprehensive training to run autonomous equipment safely and effectively. Every piece of autonomous equipment uses a three-layer safety system where: (1) sensors such as cameras and lidar sense and avoid pedestrians, vehicles and other obstacles; (2) the equipment's work area is contained within a geofence, which confines movement of the equipment to the designated zone; (3) the equipment is outfitted with hardwired and wireless emergency stop buttons, enabling the remote equipment operator to stop the vehicle instantly at any time.
• Partnership Highlights: Sunstate is a trusted brand in equipment rental, and is excited to offer the latest, cutting-edge technology to its customers. Built's autonomous construction equipment technology is an industry first, and by offering its equipment to contractors in partnership with Sunstate, Built will be able to accelerate technology distribution and remote equipment operator training. The partnership is currently focused on identifying the initial set of equipment and rental locations, and Sunstate will begin offering Built-upgraded autonomous equipment to select customers in late 2019 or early 2020.