Ever increasing processing power is making ever more sophisticated machinery not only possible but also affordable. It can only be a question of time before robots like those seen at the Marmomacc exhibition in Verona this year start to become familiar sites in masonry workshops around the world.

The robotic arm works in conjunction with a rotating table that the workpiece is held on to produce three dimensional stonework, including sculptures that can, using laser scanning, be exact copies of existing works or new works, that are now normally produced in resin for scanning. They can also create real-world work from the virtual world of CAD. One such robot was on the Isimar stand in Verona. It is produced by HTM Group (High Technology Machines), which is a joint venture involving IMT Automation and Isimar.

The machines are not new. They have been appearing at the major stone exhibitions since the turn of the millennium and one has been producing carvings for the amazing Spanish development of the Sagrada Familia since 2000 (see this year\'s June and October issues of this magazine). But they are developing continually, the really clever part about them being the software that keeps track of where the tool head is in relation to the workpiece. HTM, who claim to have made the first robot for the stone sector, now have three versions of the machine available, ranging in price from Euro135,000 to Euro200,000 (£94,000 to £140,000). That puts them in the same arena as CNC workcentres, although features such as automatic tool change are optional extras.

The target audience for these robots at the moment is the restoration sector. Roberto Antichi, Isimar\'s chairman, told NSS in Verona: "For restoration, it\'s not a question of how fast is the machine, but is it really suitable for the job." That might sound like an apology for a machine that is not particularly speedy, but Roberto says that, using 3D laser scanning on site, new masonry can be produced in half the time it would take masons to measure up and produce the stonework. Ignoring the scanning, he says the machine produces finished work 10-20% faster than a banker mason and, as Luca Terzago from IMT Automation chips in, it can keep going 24 hours a day. Luca also says it is no more difficult to use than a CNC workcentre.

So far, HTM have sold 35 of the machines worldwide, none of them to the UK. But Luca is optimistic. "I hope very soon to sell one in England," he says.