Human Friendly Robotics Signs $3.55 Million Tiling Contract with Foley Tile of Tucson

Three-year agreement brings Tyler robots to the Southwest and gives a regional tile contractor national reach

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Human Friendly Robotics (HFR) today announced a three-year, $3.55 million robotic tiling contract with Foley Tile, a Tucson, Arizona tile contractor led by father-and-son duo Jerry Foley and Brent Foley. HFR will deploy its Tyler robots alongside Foley Tile's installers in Arizona and beyond.

Foley Tile has historically worked close to home in southern Arizona. With Tyler handling repetitive tile placement, a single skilled crew can now commit to larger projects at home and far from Tucson, on a schedule the company can guarantee.

"We don't like turning down large work outside our region," said Jerry Foley, owner of Foley Tile. "Tyler changes the math. Recruiting in a city where we don't know anyone becomes a non-issue, and the robot works at a pace I can plan around. Our schedule is predictable and definite, so we can say yes to jobs we used to walk away from."

Proven at the Caribbean's largest mall

Last summer, Foley Tile previewed Tyler's pilot work at Plaza Las Américas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the largest shopping mall in the Caribbean, where Tyler and the crew achieved eight times the human benchmark pace.

"This is a small step toward a Built World of the future," said HFR CEO Shamoon Siddiqui. "We envision a day when contractors scale physical labor on demand… man, machine, or materials… assembling quickly on a jobsite, finishing on time and on budget, and dispersing just as quickly to the next job. This is the Autonomous GC."

Siddiqui adds, "Construction is backbreaking; workforce is shrinking. Give tradeworkers a tool like Tyler that multiplies their output and reduces fatigue, and more projects get built. It could draw a new generation into the skilled trades."

Growing without hiring constraint

The installer shortage is national: 42% of AGC and NCCER surveyed construction firms reported project delays because of worker shortages. Tyler lets Foley Tile take on out-of-region work with the same experienced Tucson installers, multiplied by robots that travels with them, on per-square-foot pricing with no equipment to buy.

Less strain, longer careers

Tyler handles the repetitive placement -- kneeling, bending and lifting -- while installers keep cuts, edges, finishing and quality control. It holds pace as workers tire late in a shift, can support overnight work, and requires no technology background to operate. Tyler has already worked dozens of jobsites in NY, NJ and Puerto Rico.

About Human Friendly Robotics

HFR develops robots that assist skilled tradespeople. Its Tyler robot multiplies a worker's flooring installation capacity while reducing repetitive physical work. https://www.humanfriendly.bot.

About Foley Tile

Foley Tile is an Arizona flooring contractor led by owner Jerry Foley and Brent Foley, serving commercial and residential clients across southern Arizona and now expanding to projects nationwide. https://foleytilellc.com.

Media contact: Don Skenderian, [email protected], 508-463-4753

SOURCE Human Friendly Robotics