McLaren Deploys Autonomous Robots via FieldAI Partnership

McLaren Construction has partnered with FieldAI to deploy autonomous quadruped robots across its UK construction sites. The deal marks FieldAI's entry into the UK market, after deploying tech across hundreds of sites in Europe, Asia and North America.

The robots will initially capture 360-degree site imagery and generate point cloud data, supporting progress verification, model-to-site deviation analysis, safety compliance patrols and quality assurance. Further capabilities are expected as the technology develops.

McLaren has already trialled the technology on its Passivhaus refurbishment of the London School of Economics' 35 Lincoln's Inn Fields building, using a Boston Dynamics Spot robot fitted with FieldAI's software.

Adam Nicholson, Group Pre Construction Director at McLaren, says: "The significance of this deployment for the construction industry is that we can move beyond machines that are remote controlled or pre-programmed for a limited range of tasks and routes.

"Instead, we now have autonomous robots navigating stairs, doors and other obstacles and constantly working with our human teams to support productivity, safety and quality."

Robots entering the jobsite

McLaren's deployment comes amid growing interest in robotics across the UK construction sector.

Tilbury Douglas became the first UK contractor to deploy a humanoid robot on a live site in April, trialling a robot named Douglas for ten weeks to capture 360-degree imagery, produce progress reports and carry out health and safety monitoring.

Mace's Constructing with Intelligence report, published last week, called on UK Research and Innovation to establish a dedicated funding programme for robotics and AI applications in construction. 

The report identified layout marking, rebar tying, heavy logistics handling, inspection and factory-based manufacture as tasks where automation is most immediately viable.

FieldAI itself raised US$405m in funding last August, backed by investors including Bezos Expeditions, Nvidia's venture arm and Bill Gates' Gates Frontier. 

The company's technology is built on what it calls Field Foundation Models, which combine data-driven AI with physics-based reasoning to let robots operate without pre-mapped routes or supporting infrastructure.

Global robotics adoption

Globally, robotics adoption across construction firms dipped in 2025, according to the Equipment & Robotics Benchmarking report from BuiltWorlds, a Chicago-based construction tech research firm.

The report found that the share of firms reporting active robotics use fell from 65% in 2024 to 46% in 2025, even though positive attitudes toward the technology rose from 74% to more than 95% in the same period.

BuiltWorlds suggests this could partly be due to firms moving away from broad pilot programmes towards fewer, more selective deployments with repeated, committed use, rather than one-off trials. 

Rather than selling hardware, FieldAI licenses its autonomy software to robot manufacturers, letting operators like McLaren add capability without owning the underlying machines.

This model has helped FieldAI scale quickly across sectors including energy, mining and logistics.

What comes next

McLaren's deployment is part of a five-year digital transformation strategy the contractor started in 2022, and the company plans to use lessons from the rollout to support wider robotics adoption across the business.

Patrick Purwin, Vice President of Sales at FieldAI, says the partnership will expand beyond just monitoring over time.

"The work starts with monitoring and modelling missions and expands across the full spectrum of physical work, including site logistics, dexterous manipulation and multi-robot coordination," he says.