Human Friendly Robotics Wins $4 Million Tile-Laying Robot Contract in the Northeast

What the contract covers

HFR said the agreement will put its Tyler robots to work alongside Flooring Concepts' installers across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the greater New York City metropolitan area. The deal runs for three years and is worth up to $4 million.

According to the company, the installation capacity purchased represents at least 15%-40% of Flooring Concepts' LVT tiling work over the next three years. Flooring Concepts is a New Jersey-based commercial flooring contractor led by President John Pilot.

Pilot said the payment model is a key part of the appeal. "Thankfully, I can just pay per square foot of install instead of purchasing the equipment," he said, adding that it is an investment in the workforce and customers "without undue capital expenditures."

How Tyler works with tile setters

Tyler is HFR's autonomous tiling robot. The company describes it as its flagship technology for accelerating commercial flooring buildouts. Tile installation involves repeated kneeling, bending, lifting and placement. Tyler handles the repetitive placement, while human installers remain responsible for cuts, edges, finishing and quality control.

HFR says tile setters can operate Tyler with training and without a robotics background. The robot keeps up production as workers tire toward the end of a shift, and it supports overnight or around-the-clock installation through staffed shifts where conditions permit.

"Tyler multiplies a tile setter's efficiency and output," said Shamoon Siddiqui, CEO of Human Friendly Robotics. He said the company gives skilled professionals a tool to complete their work 8X faster, and without tiring, and that the aim is to reduce physical strain and help tile setters build longer careers in the trade.

Labor shortages and existing deployments

The release points to workforce constraints as the driver of demand. It cites a September 2026 report from AGC and NCCER, which found that 42% of surveyed construction firms experienced project delays because of worker shortages. Flooring Concepts reports that its pipeline already includes significant work scheduled for 2028.

HFR says Tyler has already been deployed to dozens of jobsites in the New York City metropolitan area and Puerto Rico, including schools, malls and government buildings. The company describes the new agreement as turning that field experience into a sustained commercial commitment.

The deal also follows an announcement from Starnet Commercial Flooring, which welcomed HFR as its robotics service provider within its network. According to the release, Starnet's roughly 200 member subcontractors represent $4 billion or more in combined annual sales.

What it means for the flooring trade

For contractors, the agreement shows a pay-per-square-foot model for robotic installation, which avoids buying the equipment outright. For installers, HFR positions Tyler as a way to reduce some of the most physically demanding parts of the job while keeping skilled work such as cuts and finishing in human hands.

HFR said it expects this agreement to be the first of many bringing robotic assistance into everyday flooring work. Whether that happens will depend on results from the deployments planned over the three-year term.