DEWALT said Oct. 16 that DALE, a concrete-drilling robot it developed with August Robotics, was selected for TIME’s Best Inventions of 2026 in the Robotics category.
TIME says its annual list covers 300 inventions, has no ranking and evaluates entries for originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.
DALE targets concrete-floor drilling for rack stops and supports used by data center mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. August Robotics says DALE combines autonomous downward drilling with fleet coordination for this repetitive work. The company says automation is designed to reduce workers’ exposure to dust and vibration.
DEWALT reported that DALE had drilled more than 385,000 holes at accuracy above 99%, with speeds reaching 10 times those of conventional methods. It also said the robot had removed more than 300 weeks from schedules across 44 data center construction phases.
Earlier company updates cited different totals. August Robotics’ Jan. 20 launch announcement reported 99.97% accuracy over more than 90,000 holes and 80 weeks saved across 10 data center projects. On July 9, Stanley Black & Decker reported 190 weeks saved across 26 major projects and said DALE was commercially launching. The October update counts construction phases, and the companies did not explain how the measures compare.
In a Jan. 27 interview with Fast Company, Bill Beck, president of Tools & Outdoor at Stanley Black & Decker, estimated drilling costs at about $65 per hole for crews and about $20 with a robot fleet. Those were Beck’s estimates, not customer prices disclosed by the companies.
TIME’s program page lists category fees of $575, $800 or $925, depending on the deadline, and says fees do not affect selection or ranking. The announcements reviewed do not disclose whether either company paid.
