DeWalt recently announced the commercial availability of its robot DALE, which stands for Downward Autonomous Laser-drilling Equipment. The company first displayed DALE at World of Concrete in January, when it was in the midst of a year-long pilot program working inside data centers.

According to the company, during that pilot DALE “drilled at speeds up to 10 times faster than traditional methods, reduced project timelines by a total of 190 weeks across 26 data center construction phases, and achieved 99.97% accuracy drilling more than 230,000 holes.”

DALE is powered by swappable batteries and accommodates remote monitoring, qualities that DeWalt emphasizes “maximize time on-site to support around-the-clock drilling operations.” It also features automatic dust extraction and quality assurance assisted by artificial intelligence. These offerings “ensure sites are clean and prepped for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing installation workflows immediately after drilling, shaving weeks from schedules,” the company boasts.

The robot is built on August Robotics’ platform.

“Amidst an unprecedented wave of data center construction, speed has become the defining competitive advantage for hyperscalers racing to deliver computing capacity,” DeWalt said when announcing DALE’s commercial availability.

“The downward drilling robot’s year-long pilot with one of the world’s most influential technology leaders powerfully demonstrates its ability to accelerate schedules, reduce costs, enhance precision, and elevate safety in downward drilling applications,” commented Bill Beck, president of Stanley Black & Decker’s tools and outdoor business. “Now we’re advancing to the next phase: Delivering this breakthrough technology to a broader market and empowering customers to achieve unparalleled speed, efficiency, and results on their most-demanding projects.”