ALBERT

Description: Within the current organization of design activities it is difficult to fully realize the potential of BIM (Building Information Modelling). In BIM processes, it is necessary to identify and exchange the speci...

Description: This paper explores the potential for using remotely sensed data from a combination of commercial and open-sources, to improve the functionality, accuracy of energy-use calculations and visualisation of carbon...

Description: The digital process of Building Information Modeling (BIM) involves the creation and modification of CAD-based building models. The complexity of such models has been increasing steadily within the last few ye...

Description: Settlements induced by tunneling in inner urban areas can easily damage above ground structures. This already has to be considered in early planning of tunneling routes. Assessing the risk of damages to struct...

Description: Technological developments and globalized working processes have transformed the building process. However, current digital semantic building models no longer adequately represent the increasing complexity of ...

Description: The effective 3D manipulation, comprehension, and control of 3D objects on computers are well-established lasting problems, which include a display aspect, a control aspect, and a spatial coupling between cont...

Description: Building Information Modelling (BIM) is becoming a standard in Architecture, Building and Construction (ABC) industries. It provides a method for a unified representation of information about building througho...

Description: If unprocessed natural materials are the most environmentally friendly construction materials available, how do we develop and communicate design model and construction information that allows dealing with the...

Description: This paper reports on a case study of the use of visualization of geospatial data that is distributed across data sets and requires integration over time and space to aid decision makers. Like many State Highw...

Description: In the construction industry, the productivity of all trades is directly impacted by uncertainty and variability. For repetitive projects, smooth work flow of productive resources is necessary to minimize or e...

Description: Islamic architectural history encompasses a substantial amount of information that needs to be categorized and digitally modeled so it can be utilized proficiently in the design phases of any project that seek...

Description: As offsite prefabrication and modular construction continue to gain momentum into the future, material supply chain becomes increasingly complex for modern construction projects. Pre-engineered material supply...

Description: The concept of building information management (BIM) is based on its holistic nature. This idea pays off, if all relevant information is fused into one consistent data set. As a consequence, the completeness o...

Description: In the construction industry, the productivity of all trades is directly impacted by uncertainty and variability. For repetitive projects, smooth work flow of productive resources is necessary to minimize or e...

Description: This paper reports on a case study of the use of visualization of geospatial data that is distributed across data sets and requires integration over time and space to aid decision makers. Like many State Highw...

Description: Islamic architectural history encompasses a substantial amount of information that needs to be categorized and digitally modeled so it can be utilized proficiently in the design phases of any project that seek...

Description: The pace of diffusion of BIM (Building Information Modelling) use is considered to increase with governmental initiatives in which public clients in countries like Finland, Singapore, United Kingdom, and Swede...

Description: As offsite prefabrication and modular construction continue to gain momentum into the future, material supply chain becomes increasingly complex for modern construction projects. Pre-engineered material supply...

Description: Many research and development efforts have been made for automated compliance checking of building designs with regulatory requirements, but there is a lack of a non-proprietary and user-understandable represe...

Description: The concept of building information management (BIM) is based on its holistic nature. This idea pays off, if all relevant information is fused into one consistent data set. As a consequence, the completeness o...

Description: Generally, there are different optimal solutions with regard to urban landscape planning depending on the area and the opinions and characteristics of community residents. Furthermore, when considering urban l...

Description: With advances in technologies that enabled massive visual data collection and BIM, the AEC industry now has an unprecedented amount of visual data (e.g., images and videos) and BIMs. One of the past efforts to...

Description: Offshore oil and gas platforms generally have a lifetime of 30 to 40 years, and platform decommissioning is a major issue because many of the existing offshore oil and gas platforms are reaching the end of the...

Description: The construction industry is responsible for 50% of the solid waste generated worldwide. Governments around the world formulate legislation and regulations concerning recycling and re-using building materials,...

Description: Construction companies typically work on many projects simultaneously each with its own objectives and resource demands. Consequently, a key managerial function is to allocate financial, equipment, and human r...

Description: Background: Presenting significant building or engineering 3D-models is a crucial part of the planning, construction and maintenance phases in terms of collaboration and understanding. Especially in complex or large-scale models, immersion is one of the major key factors for being able to intuitively perceive all aspects of the scene. A fully immersive system needs to give the user a large field-of-view with reduced latency for lifelike impression. Technologies such as VRwalls and shutter glasses can deliver high refresh rates, yet fail to give a large field-of-view. Head-mounted-devices for virtual reality fill this gap. Head tracking mechanisms translate movements of the user’s head into virtual camera movements and enable a natural way of examining models. Unlike a stereoscopic representation with projectors, point-of-view tracking can be achieved separately for each individual user. Hardware costs for such systems were very high in the past, but have dropped due to virtual reality systems now gaining traction in the mainstream gaming community. Methods: In this paper we present a way to build a low-cost, highly immersive virtual reality environment for engineering and construction applications. Furthermore, we present a method to simplify and partly automate the process of reusing digital building models, which are already used in construction, to create virtual scenes, instead of having to do parallel content creation for visualization. Using the Oculus Rift head-mounted display and the Leap Motion hand-tracking device, we show the possibilities of naturally interacting within a virtual space in different use cases. The software, based on the popular game engine Unreal Engine 4, will be used as a basis for further research and development. Results: Building Information Modeling data can be imported to UE4 with our presented plugin. Using an automated database for mapping materials to the geometry simplifies the process of importing Building Information Modeling entities. The refresh rate of the system stays within acceptable margins needed for virtual reality applications using head-mounted devices. Conclusions: Head-mounted devices present a great potential for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry, as a person can experience realistic first-person situations without having to care about injuries. Automated processes for the simplification of content creation, leveraging existing models, and the usage of visual programming languages enable even nonprogrammers to create scenarios to their needs.

Description: Background: Nowadays wind energy is becoming increasingly significant in the planning, development and growth of new electricity supply systems. Special attention has been given to land-based turbines for ensuring the efficient economical operation of massive hubs rising 100m above the ground, based on the idea that the bigger the turbine, the more complicated are the transportation and assembly processes. Methods: A new design of a wind turbine has several advantages compared to conventional designs; one of these advantages lies in the use of prefabricated elements, which increases efficiency. The implementation of information technology as a complement to prefabrication techniques is a further aim of this research, which seeks to improve the overall performance of the project. Consequently, Building Information Modelling is suggested as the most suitable methodology for complementing off-site techniques and reaching higher efficiency by improving design, manufacture, transportation and assembly processes. Results: This paper will present the research project “hybrid² tower for wind turbines” funded by the State of Hesse, Germany, which focuses on a new, efficient and economical design for high wind turbine towers. The new hybrid² tower is composed of a concrete tower containing prefabricated concrete quarter-circle elements, steel beams and a steel tube tower on the top. The combination of concrete and steel beams improves the static and dynamic performance of the main supporting structure. With this new design, the weight of the concrete tower is estimated to decrease by 40 % compared to a traditional full-concrete tower and, as a positive consequence, the cost of assembly (including assembly on site) is reduced. Conclusions: Due to the energy revolution, a special focus is put on the development of renewable energies, especially wind power. The steadily increasing hub heights of wind turbines means that tower structures have to be more massive. The development of the hybrid² tower by using Building Information Modeling and prefabrication techniques leads to an optimized performance and reduces transport and assembly costs.

Description: Project archives are becoming increasingly large and complex. On construction projects in particular, the increasing amount of information and the increasing complexity of its structure make searching and expl...

Description: The accurate, efficient and economical monitoring of settlements caused by tunnel boring machines, especially in regions of particular interest such as critical inner city areas, has become an important aspect...

Description: Today, the architectural, engineering, construction, and operation (AECO) industry is motivated to employ graduates educated about Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools, techniques, and processes, which he...

Description: Facility management (FM) is an important phase in the building lifecycle. Although building information modeling (BIM) technology has been widely used in the design and construction phase, efforts to transfer ...

Description: Nowadays wind energy is becoming increasingly significant in the planning, development and growth of new electricity supply systems. Special attention has been given to land-based turbines for ensuring the eff...

Description: Over the past few years, the application of camera-equipped Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for visually monitoring construction and operation of buildings, bridges, and other types of civil infrastructure sys...

Description: Presenting significant building or engineering 3D-models is a crucial part of the planning, construction and maintenance phases in terms of collaboration and understanding. Especially in complex or large-scale...

Description: Finding the current location of a specific utility or oneself in an unfamiliar facility can be difficult and time consuming. The hypothesis tested in this paper is that using the information contained within B...

Description: One school of thought argues that the Traditional Chinese Private Garden's (TCPG) primary spatial property is that it features both freestanding buildings in space, and spaces freely positions in the landscape...

Description: Marine radar simulator is a useful approach endorsed by International Maritime Organization (IMO) to train the seafarers on how to operate marine radar equipment and use marine radar equipment for positioning ...

Description: As-built building information, including building geometry and features, is useful in multiple building assessment and management tasks. However, the current process for capturing, retrieving, and modeling suc...

Description: Recently multi-use environmental sensors became affordable and easy to control. This improvement enabled us to measure the broad range of indoor environments by using low-priced and controllable sensor devices...

Description: Global competition and the transdisciplinary nature of evolving Architecture-Engineering-Construction (AEC) activities makes it progressively important to educate new AEC professionals with appropriate skill s...

Description: Building deteriorations instigated by material degradations or moisture intrusions are the primary causes for energy inefficiency in many existing buildings. For choosing appropriate retrofits, it is important...

Description: Over the past few years, the application of camera-equipped Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for visually monitoring construction and operation of buildings, bridges, and other types of civil infrastructure systems has exponentially grown. These platforms can frequently survey construction sites, monitor work-in-progress, create documents for safety, and inspect existing structures, particularly for hard-to-reach areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide a concise review of the most recent methods that streamline collection, analysis, visualization, and communication of the visual data captured from these platforms, with and without using Building Information Models (BIM) as a priori information. Specifically, the most relevant works from Civil Engineering, Computer Vision, and Robotics communities are presented and compared in terms of their potential to lead to automatic construction monitoring and civil infrastructure condition assessment.

Description: Background: In recent years, the population structure in Taiwan has changed so dramatically. Based on concerns of social welfare issues, Taiwanese government began to seek principles for assessment of disability. After seven years of carefully evaluation, the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (Abbreviated to ICF) is officially adopted as Taiwan’s assessment standard while most of the assessment procedures of ICF are sophisticated, and time consuming.In this paper, we propose a sensor based decision supporting system for ICF. Our prototype system aims to reduce the burden of medical staffs, and to assist subjects to perform the assessments. Methods: This paper integrate multiple devices including ASUS XtionTM, temperature/acceleration/gyro sensors on Arduino, and Zigbee to measure the mobility of limbs and joints. The subject’s log of assessments is then recorded in the database so that the medical staffs can remote-monitor the condition of subjects immediately, and analyze the results later. Additionally, in our system, a user-friendly interface is implemented for the detection of dementia. Results: In this paper, three experiments have been conducted for different purpose. The experiment was conducted to compare the variation between thermometer and our device. Moreover, we invited 20 elders aged for 65 to 80 to use our system and all of them gave positive feedback. Two elders were invited to perform full assessment for dementia and the results show that both of them didn’t have sign of dementia. Also, the assessment of joint movement was performed by a 67 year-old elder and the result shows that the elder had well physical function and could take care of daily life. Conclusions: The proposed system has potential for aiding users to perform the ICF testing better and provide benefits to medical staffs and society. With current technology, integration between sensor network systems and artificial intelligence approaches will more and more important. We develop a simple interface for user to manipulate and perform the ICF assessment. In addition, the early detection of dementia likely has the potential to provide patients with an increased level of precaution, which may improve quality of life.

Description: Background: Wayfinding is an exceedingly complicated cognitive process, especially in complex environments such as hospitals, shopping centers and airports. Inhabitants of such large environments can become lost very easily if they are unfamiliar with the environment. Although they may eventually be able to discover the route to a specific destination, interacting with conventional wayfinding aids, such as consulting a map, understanding signs, and asking people for directions, can be very time-consuming. Methods: The research presented in this paper developed a customized instrument (questionnaire) with factors identified as influencing the cognitive process of wayfinding, and conducted an explorative study to investigate user experience and requirements of wayfinding in complex environments; in this paper, a hospital was chosen as the context. Results: The results demonstrate that current wayfinding aids are insufficient to support a person's natural navigational behaviors in the environment. Augmented Reality (AR), which is an innovative concept of enabling digital information to be superimposed onto a real view in real time and context, has great potential to supplement current wayfinding aids. Therefore, we also conceived, developed and implemented an AR-based wayfinding system based on the user requirements identified by the aforementioned instrument. Conclusion: The AR-based wayfinding system was partially validated through case studies, which concluded that AR significantly reduced the time and cognition workload of human wayfinding behaviors.

Description: Background: Simulation is a proven technique for effective construction site layout planning and heavy equipment resource optimization. Traditional simulation uses historical data as input for task durations. Data is fed into activity cycle diagrams which many times do not consider any of the rapidly changing spatial constraints that are present on a construction site. Despite the potential of enhancing the quality of simulations that ultimately advance decision making in project management, very little research has been conducted towards more realistic, rapid simulation involving data gathering from live actors and documenting change in the spatial-temporal environment on construction sites. Methods: Cell-based simulation, incorporating spatial changes to the site layout during the project execution and real-time location tracking data from equipment resources, is introduced for more realistic and rapid modeling in simulation. A novel framework based on continuous data collection using Global Positioning System (GPS) and a cell-based simulation model is developed for spatial consideration of earthmoving cycles. The potential of analyzing and visualizing the effects of varying resource combinations on productivity and traffic congestion on site are explored. The selected approach will aid in increasing insight and awareness for decision making in resource management, site layout and internal traffic control planning. Results: The capabilities of the system to handle a complex and more realistic system were demonstrated and the parameters of the cells were tested in a case study of common earthmoving operations. The advantages of using a cell-based system over a traditional simulation model include ease of visualization and simplicity in modeling spatial constraints (e.g., a ramp restricting the traffic flow to one-way). The system of cells provided full control over the flow of resources by using predefined rules or algorithms. The cell-based system also simplified the design process since, except for some certain key cells, other ordinary cells followed the same rules and did not need to be programmed individually. Future research may involve multiple, non-interacting crews competing for resources and study time-space conflicts in more detail. Conclusions: The presented cell-based simulation system has the ability to model and visualize the cyclic activities of earthmoving equipment that occur on a construction site in greater detail than previous simulation methods have done. Using near real-time location data from equipment as input value in the simulation helps construction site project engineers, planners, and managers to improve coordination and monitoring of such construction resources.

Description: Background: Rate models for predicting vehicular emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO X) are insensitive to the vehicle modes of operation, such as cruise, acceleration, deceleration and idle, because these models are usually based on the average trip speed. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using other variables such as vehicle speed, acceleration, load, power and ambient temperature to predict (NO X) emissions to ensure that the emission inventory is accurate and hence the air quality modelling and management plans are designed and implemented appropriately. Methods: We propose to use the non-parametric Boosting-Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (B-MARS) algorithm to improve the accuracy of the Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) modelling to effectively predict NO X emissions of vehicles in accordance with on-board measurements and the chassis dynamometer testing. The B-MARS methodology is then applied to the NO X emission estimation. Results: The model approach provides more reliable results of the estimation and offers better predictions of NO X emissions. Conclusion: The results therefore suggest that the B-MARS methodology is a useful and fairly accurate tool for predicting NO X emissions and it may be adopted by regulatory agencies.

Description: Visualization of as-built and as-planned data may change the future of construction project management to a more efficient area of knowledge if appropriate and easy photography and reconstruction tools would be developed and used by practitioners.Most of the current reconstructed 3D point cloud models use unordered photograph collections to generate 4D as-built models. Some of these photographs are not used in the final model mostly because of either a possible overlap with other photos or some faults in photography procedure. Computation time increases exponentially as the number of photos in a photo collection increases. Therefore, the unstructured processes may reduce the performance of a point-cloud model representation.This work shows how the available application of unordered photograph collections are regularly inefficient by measuring the performance of some important criteria, such as the registration success score and the computation time.This study provides an easy applicable on-site photography procedure. By adopting the proposed approach and by training the photographers, the model would be more desirable for application in more construction projects. The application of the step-by-step photography procedure (SPP) in a gas compressor station project shows a significant improvement in the final reconstructed 3D point cloud model and as-built data visualization criteria.

Description: Background: Deep excavations in urban areas have the potential to cause unfavorable effects on ground stability and nearby structures. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate and monitor the environmental impact during deep excavation construction processes. Generally, construction project teams will set up monitoring instruments to control and monitor the overall environmental status, especially during the construction of retaining walls, main excavations, and when groundwater is involved. Large volumes of monitoring data and project information are typically created as the construction project progresses, making it increasingly difficult to manage them comprehensively. Methods: To address the abovementioned issues, this project develops a Building Information Model (BIM)-based monitoring system to integrate and visualize monitoring data for risk assessments during urban deep excavation projects. A BIM can be used to establish a comprehensive model of managing a construction project. The system developed herein can access required data from BIM models, and allow complicated numerical data to be displayed effectively in an easily understandable visual format. It is composed of intelligent building components, which includes data attributes and parametric rules for each object. This system can provide a construction project team with a full monitoring view of the ongoing project, along with functions to integrate the information and display it in various ways to present complex engineering monitoring information quickly and clearly. Results: Testing examples of the developed system on the excavation of the O6 station in the Kaohsiung metro system in Taiwan are presented to illustrate the improvements of safety management for adjacent structures in urban deep excavation projects. The risks and issues affecting the safety of excavation activities and proximal structures during a project can be identified earlier through effective visualization of information in the system, enabling construction project teams to address them promptly and appropriately by performing accurate risk assessments and decision making. Conclusions: This system assists construction project teams in identifying and understanding possible blind spots when attempting to achieve risk assessments during urban deep excavation projects, and further enables the adoption of mitigation measures to reduce risk levels.

Description: Background: Aging infrastructure in the US has gained quite a bit of attention in the past decade. Being one type of a critical infrastructure, embankment dams in the US require significant investment to upgrade the deteriorated parts. Due to limited budgets, understanding the behavior of structures over time through risk assessment is essential to prioritize dams. During the risk assessment for embankment dams, engineers utilize current and historical data from the design, construction, and operation phases of these structures. The challenge is that during risk assessment, various engineers from different disciplines (e.g., geotechnical, hydraulics) come together and how they would like to visualize the available data sets changes based on the discipline-specific analyses they need to perform. The objective of this research study is to understand the discipline specific visualization needs of engineers from US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) who are involved in risk assessment of embankment dams when they deal with large set of data accumulated since the inception of dams. Methods: The requirements were identified through a three-phased research approach including interviews with engineers who are regularly involved in risk assessment processes, a card game and review of standards and published work on risk assessment of embankment dams.Results and conclusionsThe findings suggest that the visualization of the dam layout, components and geometry within 3D settings overlaid with sensor data (which could be queried based on engineers? discipline specific needs) and data analytics results provide a better flexibility to engineers to understand the risk associated with potential failure modes.

Description: Background: The emerging Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) / Facility Management (FM) industry promotes life cycle process and collaborative way of working. Currently, many efforts have been contributed for professional integrated design / construction / maintenance process, there are very few practical methods that can enable a professional designer to effectively interact and collaborate with end-users/clients on a functional level.MethodThis paper tries to address the issue via the utilisation of computer game software combined with Building Information Modelling (BIM). Game-engine technology is used due to its intuitive controls, immersive 3D technology and network capabilities that allow for multiple simultaneous users. BIM has been specified due to the growing trend in industry for the adoption of the design method and the 3D nature of the models, which suit a game engine?s capabilities. Results: The prototype system created in this paper is based around a designer creating a structure using BIM and this being transferred into the game engine automatically through a two-way data transferring channel. This model is then used in the game engine across a number of network connected client ends to allow end-users to change/add elements to the design, and those changes will be synchronized back to the original design conducted by the professional designer. The system has been tested for its robustness and functionality against the development requirements, and the results showed promising potential to support more collaborative and interactive design process. Conclusion: It was concluded that this process of involving the end-user could be very useful in certain circumstances to better elaborate the end user?s requirement to design team in real time and in an efficient way.

Description: The arising trend of building information modeling technology application with innovative and revolutionary approach has changed the workflow and deliberation in A/E/C industry. By considering the condensed schedule of the project, operation safety, and information correctness during design and construction stages, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) brings BIM technology into Changhua Station construction project. The accumulated massive information helps engineers to coordinate design information among different expertise (architecture, structure, MEP, etc.) into BIM model at earlier phases. The effectiveness of BIM coordination technology increases the design quality and reduces significantly the conflicts of various interfaces. Three-dimension visualized interface increases the problem solving efficiency. During construction stage, construction information is integrated by the model to enhance fluency of construction process among different construction sectors. Application of BIM coordination technology reduces information gap, enhances construction quality and meets the schedule.

Description: Background: Finding the current location of a specific utility or oneself in an unfamiliar facility can be difficult and time consuming. The hypothesis tested in this paper is that using the information contained within Building Information Models (BIM) can increase the accuracy of indoor positioning algorithms using context-aware sensing technology. The presented work demonstrates how the integration of passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking technology and Building Information Modeling (BIM) can assist indoor localization for potential applications in facilities management for proactive preventative maintenance. Methods: This paper includes (1) developing a framework that utilizes the integration of commercially-available RFID and a building information model; (2) evaluating the framework for real-time resource location tracking within an indoor environment; and (3) developing an algorithm for real-time localization and visualization in a BIM. A prototype application has been developed that simultaneously connects the RFID readers on a maintenance cart, an asset maintenance database and a BIM model. Three multilateralization approaches were compared in the system to use in the algorithm. Testing was conducted in a facility with a corridor that loops around in a rectangle. Results: The goal is to have a system accuracy within 3 m. Results show that fusing BIM with multilateralization techniques for RFID technology can decrease the number of false reads by 64 % versus standalone multilateralization equations. The greatest system accuracy achieved was 1.66 m. Conclusions: Significantly, the results validate the hypothesis that BIM can increase indoor localization accuracy, and show the usefulness of using BIM for indoor localization in addition to real-time visualization.

Description: Background: The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry lacks a framework for capturing, managing, and exchanging project, product, and social information over the lifecycle of a building. The current tools have various limitations, such as lack of interoperability, slow to transfer huge building model files, and possibility of data inconsistency. Methods: In this paper, we present a cloud-based BIM server framework namely Social BIMCloud that facilitates BIM information exchange through dynamic merging and splitting of building models. The data model of Social BIMCloud is based on but not limited to IFC. The data model of Social BIMCloud was further extended to accommodate social interactions, by studying the formal modes of communication in the AEC industry. An object-based approach to capture and manage social interactions in AEC projects through a BIM-based visual user interface was also developed and demonstrated. Results: Social BIMCloud addresses the issues of inefficient data transfer speed and data inconsistency in a distributed environment by facilitating the storage and partial exchange of integrated nD BIM models. Data interoperability is facilitated through open BIM standards such as IFC and direct integration with construction software. High performance, scalability, fault tolerance, and cost effectiveness are facilitated through data partitioning, data replication strategies, multi-node structures, and pay-per-use tariff systems, respectively, through a cloud-based NoSQL database. Conclusion: The Social BIMCloud framework helps to develop and exchange BIM models, which are rich in project information such as social interactions, cost, and energy analyses. This framework improves the communication efficiency between project participants, leading to better designs and less rework. The information captured by this framework could also be useful to determine important metrics such as industry trends, relationships among project participants, and user requirements.

Description: Background: A reasonable management and monitoring of construction projects requires accurate construction schedules. Accuracy depends highly on availability of reliable actual logistics data. Such data contain information about available material, equipment, personnel, updated delivery dates, and other data on site conditions. However, such data is often associated with different types of uncertainties due to infrequent collections, varying transport times, or manual assessments. Nonetheless, consideration of these uncertainties is important for evaluating actual data regarding their impact on the overall construction progress. Currently, the integration of such data into construction schedules is a time-consuming, manual and, thus, error-prone process. Therefore, in practice schedules are not updated as often as they should be. Methods: To ease the handling of actual data and their integration into construction schedules, a reactive construction scheduling approach is presented. The approach is structured into four successive steps. To evaluate and systematically analyze uncertain actual data, fuzzy set theory and α-cut method are incorporated. Thus, actual data can be integrated into discrete-event simulation models. These models are used to perform simulation-based sensitivity analyzes, which evaluate impacts on construction schedules. As a result, an actual schedule is generated, such that a target-actual schedule comparison can be performed. If significant deviations or problems are identified, adaption is necessary and a new schedule needs to be generated. Thereby, different restrictions on the target schedule, such as contracted delivery dates, milestones or resource allocation must be considered. To perform this required adaption simulation-based optimization is utilized. Results: To validate the method and show its advantages, an initial construction schedule example is created. The example is extended to incorporate uncertain actual logistics data. The proposed method shows how efficient actual data can be analyzed to update construction schedules. Further, the results show a competitive adaption of invalid construction schedules, such that contracted milestones, or other project objectives can be achieved. Conclusion: The presented reactive construction scheduling method has the ability to improve current treatment of uncertain actual logistics data. This helps construction project managers to improve the management and monitoring of construction projects by reducing the time-consuming, error-prone process of updating inconsistent schedules.

Description: Background: In virtue of their capability to measure temperature, thermal infrared cameras have been widely used in building diagnostics for detecting heat loss, air leakage, water damage etc. However, the lack of visual details in thermal infrared images makes the complement of visible images a necessity. Therefore, it is often useful to register images of these two modalities for further inspection of architectures. Augmented reality (AR) technology, which supplements the real world with virtual objects, offers an ideal tool for presenting the combined results of thermal infrared and visible images. This paper addresses the problem of registering thermal infrared and visible façade images, which is essential towards developing an AR-based building diagnostics application. Methods: A novel quadrilateral feature is devised for this task, which models the shapes of commonly present façade elements, such as windows. The features result from grouping edge line segments with the help of image perspective information, namely, vanishing points. Our method adopts a forward selection algorithm to determine feature correspondences needed for estimating the transformation model. During the formation of the feature correspondence set, the correctness of selected feature correspondences at each step is verified by the quality of the resulting registration, which is based on the ratio of areas between the transformed features and the reference features.Results and conclusionsQuantitative evaluation of our method shows that registration errors are lower than errors reported in similar studies and registration performance is usable for most tasks in thermographic inspection of building façades.

Description: Background: Maintaining an up-to-date record of the number, type, location, and condition of high-quantity low-cost roadway assets such as traffic signs is critical to transportation inventory management systems. While, databases such as Google Street View contain street-level images of all traffic signs and are updated regularly, their potential for creating an inventory databases has not been fully explored. The key benefit of such databases is that once traffic signs are detected, their geographic coordinates can also be derived and visualized within the same platform. Methods: By leveraging Google Street View images, this paper presents a new system for creating inventories of traffic signs. Using computer vision method, traffic signs are detected and classified into four categories of regulatory, warning, stop, and yield signs by processing images extracted from Google Street View API. Considering the discriminative classification scores from all images that see a sign, the most probable location of each traffic sign is derived and shown on the Google Maps using a dynamic heat map. A data card containing information about location and type of each detected traffic sign is also created. Finally, several data mining interfaces are introduced that allow for better management of the traffic sign inventories. Results: The experiments conducted on 6.2 miles of I-57 and I-74 interstate highways in the U.S. –with an average accuracy of 94.63 % for sign classification– show the potential of the method to provide quick, inexpensive, and automatic access to asset inventory information. Conclusions: Given the reliability in performance shown through experiments and because collecting information from Google Street View imagery is cost-effective, the proposed method has potential to deliver inventory information on traffic signs in a timely fashion and tie into the existing DOT inventory management systems. Such spatio-temporal representations provide DOTs with information on how different types of traffic signs degrade over time and further provides useful condition information necessary for predicting sign replacement plan.

Description: Background: Taiwan experiences typhoons annually and the heavy rain accompanies a typhoon often causes flooding and damage. Local decision-makers invest heavily in flood-prevention measures thus need to allocate resources wisely to minimize the destruction. As floods periodically cause tremendous damage to lives and property, passing on the learning of previous generations becomes important. Disaster education is therefore critical in the region. However, the current disaster education curriculum follows a traditional education methodology focusing on theoretical and conceptual knowledge and teaching. An alternative methodology is needed to motivate students and to deliver practical experience in disaster education.MethodThis study adopted a persuasive technology game-initiated-learning (GIL) and developed a Flood Protection game to understanding the following: (1) students’ motivation for learning, (2) their ability to play the game, and (3) their focus on disaster topics. To evaluate their levels of motivation, students’ reactions were analyzed and categorized into four specific expressions: discussion, question, laughter, and screaming. Students’ game playing ability was analyzed and categorized into four stages: explore, aware, fluent, and known. Finally, the content of students’ discussions and questions were analyzed to assess their interest in disaster education. Results: Students’ levels of motivation were found to be high (an average of 2.3 instances of discussion, 0.7 instances of question, 1.3 instances of laughter, and 0.8 instances of screaming were observed per minute during the game); their ability to play the game was sufficient (79% of students completed the game having reached the “known” stage); and the content of their discussions and questions was closely related to disaster knowledge (73% of the 256 discussions and questions related closely to flood and disaster knowledge). Conclusions: From this research, we find that GIL is a persuasive design in flood protection training. Students with low motivation in conventional learning environments were triggered after playing the game. It enhanced students’ motivation to learn more about flooding. In short, the game does benefit flood disaster education, indicating that a well-designed game may promote students’ motivation in disaster education and cause behavior change.

Description: Background: Demand response (DR) is referred to programs designed to manage and control electric loads. DR represents one of the vital tools utilized in power distribution networks to improve network efficiency. Effective implementation of DR programs delivers operational benefits such as reduced peak demands and relieved overloads, which are essential in a power system with growing penetration of fundamentally intermittent renewable energy sources. Methods: This paper presents a visualization tool for optimising DR programs for domestic hot water systems in distribution power networks. The tool accurately models and predicts potential peak demand reductions through direct load control of domestic hot water systems. It employs a multi-layer thermally stratified hot water cylinder model and Monte Carlo simulations to generate hot water load profiles of domestic customers. To meet peak reduction targets set by the tool user, switching programs found via iterative optimizations are applied to hot water systems. Results: The structure and individual components of the tool are described, and case studies are presented. Impacts of different switching programs on customer’s comfort are evaluated and discussed. Conclusion: The visualization tool is designed to recommend optimum DR switching programs for domestic water heating systems. The tool can assess the performance of a DR switching program by estimating potential peak load reductions and customer comfort characterized by the probability of cold showers. A power system operator can use this tool to determine the available domestic water heating load in a controlled area, and predict the potential reduction in peak load.

Description: Background: Bridge deck inspection is essential task to monitor the health of the bridges. Condition monitoring and timely implementation of maintenance and rehabilitation procedures are needed to reduce future costs associated with bridge management. A number of Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) technologies are currently used in bridge deck inspection and evaluation, including impact-echo (IE), ground penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity (ER), ultrasonic surface waves (USW) testing, visual inspection. However, current NDE data collection is manually conducted and thus faces with several problems such as prone to human errors, safety risks due to open traffic, and high cost process. Methods: This paper reports the automated data collection and analysis for bridge decks based on our novel robotic system which can autonomously and accurately navigate on the bridge. The developed robotic system can lessen the cost and time of the bridge deck data collection and risks of human inspections. The advanced software is developed to allow the robot to collect visual images and conduct NDE measurements. The image stitching algorithm to build a whole bridge deck image from individual images is presented in detail. The ER, IE and USW data collected by the robot are analyzed to generate the corrosion, delamination and concrete elastic modulus maps of the deck, respectively. These condition maps provide detail information of the bridge deck quality. Conclusions: The automated bridge deck data collection and analysis is developed. The image stitching algorithm allowed to generate a very high resolution image of the whole bridge deck, and the bridge viewer software allows to calibrate the stitched image to the bridge coordinate. The corrosion, delamination and elastic modulus maps were built based on ER, IE and USW data collected by the robot to provide easy evaluation and condition monitoring of bridge decks.

Description: This paper reviews photogrammetric error sources and their impacts on modeling and surveying for construction quantity takeoff, quality control, and site safety monitoring applications. These error sources include camera internal parameters (i.e., type, principal point, principal distance, and camera lens distortion coefficients), imaging settings (i.e., shooting distances, baselines, percentage of photo overlaps, number of overlapping photos, camera intersection angles, and angles of incidence), and processing software programs. To augment the body of knowledge on photogrammetric modeling errors, this paper further conducts experiment, which concerns characterization of the behavior of different strategies in selecting reference lines for fixing absolute scale of photogrammetric models. In construction photogrammetric surveying, it is imperative to convert the relative scale of a 3D model into absolute measurements so geometric measurements can be taken. Previous work suggests this can be done through the determination of a reference line in absolute units; however, the position and quantity of reference lines has not been investigated. This experiment attempts to tackle this issue. The result shows that one horizontal reference line in the middle of the object performed with consistent accuracy, but if a specific area on the object needs more accurate measurements, it is best to select a reference line in that area. The review and the experimental findings may help construction professionals better understand the performance of the photogrammetric surveying and apply it in their real-world projects.

Description: Background: Building deteriorations instigated by material degradations or moisture intrusions are the primary causes for energy inefficiency in many existing buildings. For choosing appropriate retrofits, it is important to carefully diagnose and analyze building areas in need of improvements. In addition to reliable sensing and analysis of as-is energy performance, an intuitive recording and visualization of energy diagnostic outcomes are also critical to effectively illustrate the as-is building conditions to homeowners during retrofit decision-making processes.MethodToward this goal, this paper presents a thermography-based method to visualize the actual thermal resistance and condensation problems in 3D while taking static occlusions into account. First, several overlapping digital and thermal images are collected from the building areas under inspection. Using a computer vision method? consisting of image-based 3D point cloud and mesh modeling algorithms? actual 3D spatio-thermal models are generated where surface temperature can be queried at the level of 3D points. Based on the resulting 3D spatio-thermal models and by measuring the reflected and dew point temperatures, the actual R-values of building assemblies are calculated, and the condensation issues are analyzed. Taking static occlusions into account, (1) the distribution of the actual thermal resistance over each building assembly, (2) the detected building areas with condensation problems, and (3) the corresponding geometrical and thermal characteristics are jointly visualized within a 3D environment. Results: To validate the method and investigate the perceived benefits, four experiments have been conducted in existing buildings. Surveys are also conducted by professional energy auditors. The proposed method provides 3D visual representation of the actual thermal resistance distributions and building areas associated with condensation issues at the level of 3D points across geometrical forms while taking static occlusions into account. Conclusions: The experimental results and the feedback received from the professionals show the promise of the proposed method in facilitating systematic post-examination of building deteriorations and support retrofit decision-makings. Ultimately, converting surface temperature data obtained from an IR camera into 3D visualization of energy performance metrics and possible condensation problems enables practitioners to better understand the as-is building conditions.

Description: Background: Mobile cranes overturn due to excessive lifting, heavy wind, or when appropriate ground contact pressure is not secured. Such accidents can be prevented by reviewing the force conveyed from the outrigger to the ground upon lifting, as well as the soil bearing force. The stability review of mobile crane overturn is classified into the following stages: reviewing lifting conditions, mobile crane selection and reviewing ground contact stability. However, a precise review of ground contact stability requires expertise and is extremely time-consuming. Thus, this study develops automatic design algorithms for securing the ground stability of mobile cranes for easy and quick stability reviews. Methods: The stability review method and the algorithm models are created in connection with the proposed conceptual process. The algorithms proposed in this study conduct simulations for all possible candidate cases, save the results in a database, review practical alternatives, and select the solution that minimizes cost. To verify the effectiveness of the automatic design model, a case project was selected and the algorithm was applied assuming several conditions.ResultsDeveloped algorithms can select candidate cranes according to lifting conditions and design plates through simulations easily and quickly, and design components required for ground contact plate design are collected to build the database that allows easier and quicker stability review. Conclusion: The algorithms proposed in this study conduct simulations for all possible candidate cases, save the results in a database, review practical alternatives, and select the solution that minimizes cost. Developed processes are useful for analyzing correlations of mobile crane performance, ground contact and soil bearing force reinforcement designs and so forth, and for systematically selecting optimal mobile cranes.

Description: Background: Pipeline maintenance is becoming an important issue in modern construction and building information model (BIM) research. An understanding of pipeline accessibility considerations in terms of operation and maintenance is essential for planning and management. Previous studies have highlighted the complexity of multi-pipes including mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) pipelines and the importance of information visualization, but few have proposed a way to consider accessibility problems during operation and maintenance. Methods: Therefore, this study develops a systematic method to evaluate accessibility with respect to pipeline maintenance. We first divided pipeline accessibility into three categories: (1) visual accessibility—the visibility for an inspector to view; (2) approachable accessibility—the difficulty for an inspector to approach; and (3) operational accessibility—the pipeline that can be operated by the inspectors. We created mathematical models and discussed the ergonomic details about each category. We then developed a user interface, VAO Checker, in which V, A and O stand for visual, approachable and operational respectively, to display visual information about pipeline accessibility. Through instantaneous analysis, the system visualizes the accessibility of the pipelines. We visually represent the intersection and union of these three categories to illustrate the varying accessibility of pipe elements. Results: A usability test was conducted to validate the system’s effectiveness. The results of the usability analysis show that users have higher correctness when using VAO Checker than 2D plan drawing and 3D model, and they evaluate the performance of this tool better than 2D plan drawing. Conclusion: Pipeline designers can benefit by using this tool to sketch a suitable traffic flow for engineers to investigate. Furthermore, the substantial amount of information saved in the layout database could be referenced for future optimization.

Description: Background: Pipeline maintenance is becoming an important issue in modern construction and building information model (BIM) research. An understanding of pipeline accessibility considerations in terms of operation and maintenance is essential for planning and management. Previous studies have highlighted the complexity of multi-pipes including mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) pipelines and the importance of information visualization, but few have proposed a way to consider accessibility problems during operation and maintenance. Methods: Therefore, this study develops a systematic method to evaluate accessibility with respect to pipeline maintenance. We first divided pipeline accessibility into three categories: (1) visual accessibility?the visibility for an inspector to view; (2) approachable accessibility?the difficulty for an inspector to approach; and (3) operational accessibility?the pipeline that can be operated by the inspectors. We created mathematical models and discussed the ergonomic details about each category. We then developed a user interface, VAO Checker, in which V, A and O stand for visual, approachable and operational respectively, to display visual information about pipeline accessibility. Through instantaneous analysis, the system visualizes the accessibility of the pipelines. We visually represent the intersection and union of these three categories to illustrate the varying accessibility of pipe elements. Results: A usability test was conducted to validate the system?s effectiveness. The results of the usability analysis show that users have higher correctness when using VAO Checker than 2D plan drawing and 3D model, and they evaluate the performance of this tool better than 2D plan drawing. Conclusion: Pipeline designers can benefit by using this tool to sketch a suitable traffic flow for engineers to investigate. Furthermore, the substantial amount of information saved in the layout database could be referenced for future optimization.

Description: Background: An extensive body of knowledge indicated the positive impact of the Advanced Computer based Management Systems (ACMS) on various aspects of project management, while highlighting barriers that hinder adoption, diffusion, and utilization of the ACMS by the construction industries around the world. Remote projects have their unique management problems and these are caused mainly by the remoteness of the project. Little research was undertaken concerning this issue, particularly in the Persian Gulf region, and it has highlighted few unique communications and management problems such as the loose control, lack of human resources, infrastructure and experience. Methods: This research investigated the use of ACMS by large companies in the Eastern province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and how it would help these companies sorting out a number of present projects' management problems. Subsequently, a field study i.e. a questionnaire survey and interviews was carried out.Result: The field study revealed significant association between frequent management problems with little use of ACMS and the domination of use of traditional communications and management systems. This paper argues that the use of traditional systems and the traditional way of sorting out construction problems limit the applicability of ACMS. Conclusion: The present researchers recommend the use of customized ACMS associated with the application of lean and sustainable management principals as these would help overcoming barriers and providing intelligent solution for the strategic, technical, and social issues of the remote construction sites.

Description: Background: In a construction site, the safety of workers can be better secured if vehicle or robot can be properly maneuvered by using image-based gesture guidance. This kind of semi-automatic motion control is based on the features extracted in colors, outlines, textures, and motion intentions. Among these features, detecting worker?s skin color on face and hands could serve as an essential method for enabling robot to determine the region of interest (ROI). However, the performance of skin detection is usually unreliable due to interferences from reflections and shadows. Although many efficient skin color detection methods had been developed in past years, those are mostly based on complicated learning and statistical processes and are unsuitable for embedded systems. The exploration of a concise and efficient skin color detector, therefore, becomes a challenge for applications in mobile robots.MethodIn this paper, we propose a novel adaptive skin detector on face and hands as a fundamental capability of a gesture tracking system. This approach enhances the detection performance of traditional HSV color space but only requires a low computing power. For the design criteria of small size, low-power, low-cost, and minimum computing resource usages on mobile robots, the entire detecting system is built on single field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) chip. Meanwhile, besides the contributions of adaptive algorithms and FPGA chip designs, the proposed skin detector also employs a touch screen to designate expected skin color of worker as the human-robot interaction (HRI) in real-time. Results: The chip design of the FPGA is based on hardware circuits in register-transfer-level (RTL) for real-time image processing. A reasonable amount of hardware resource usages of FPGA have consumed 8% of logic elements (LEs) and 1.4% for embedded random access memory (RAM). Demonstrations with various pictures had indicated that sufficient ROI can be efficiently identified by using the proposed adaptive skin color detector. Conclusions: According to our experimental results, the proposed adaptive skin detection can work well for non-ideal illumination. It has demonstrated the reliability and feasibility on supporting the embedded robotic control in the future.

Description: Background: Poor engineering information provided to construction crews results in inefficient communication of design, leading to construction rework, disputes, and lower worker morale. The resulting errors, omissions, and misinterpretations indicates that a significant opportunity exists to improve the traditional documentation of engineering information that craft professionals use to complete their work. Historically, physical three dimensional (3D) models built by hand provided 3D physical representations of the project to assist in sequencing, visualization, and planning of critical construction activities. This practice has greatly diminished since the adoption of three dimensional CAD (computer-aided design) and BIM (building information modeling) technologies. Recently, additive manufacturing technologies have allowed for three dimensional printing of 3D CAD models. Methods: The effectiveness of 2D drawings, a 3D computer model, and a 3D printed model in delivering engineering information to an end-user are scientifically measured. Results: The 3D printed model outperformed the 2D drawings and 3D computer interface in productivity and workload measures. Conclusions: A physical model has the ability to improve communication of spatial design for certain tasks. This could lead to improved productivity, reduction of errors, and better quality for construction tasks. This paper?s primary contribution to the body of knowledge is that it identifies how different mediums of engineering information impact the communication of spatial engineering information.

Description: Background: Recently multi-use environmental sensors became affordable and easy to control. This improvement enabled us to measure the broad range of indoor environments by using low-priced and controllable sensor devices. As the data set acquired by widely installed environmental sensors increased significantly, the need for making effective use of the data has become of importance. We developed an integrated visualization mechanism to express larger amounts of sensor data.MethodThe mechanism for visualization on floor plan described in this paper consists of the following modules: 1) the sensor module; 2) the data collection module; 3) the data processing module; 4) the spatial data module; 5) the sensor location module; and 6) the data visualization module. A demonstration following the mechanism is introduced in this paper for evaluating the integrated visualization approach. We set up a test-purposed and versatile toolkit that is cheaper, smaller and more controllable than conventional tools. We collect indoor environmental data set composed of sequential numeric data so as to use them as parameters for visualization. We inspected three major issues in the process: 1) indoor temperature data of a specific room collected at a second interval; 2) such a data set can be varied by subdivided spots of interest using multiple toolkits; 3) as a result, the collection of data is regarded as one type of parameter for visualization on top of the room?s floor plan, e.g. a sudden change of sequential numbers. Results: Indoor environment such as temperature changes are shown as colors overlapped on the floor plan. In this way it may be easier to understand the state of indoor environment and factors which influence the environment. The floor plan based visualization of an indoor environmental element seems intuitive compared to just listing the numeric information. Conclusion: This paper introduces and demonstrates an integrated approach for visualizing the indoor environment on a floor plan with an actual test case. Combined with the building model, the visualized data can be used for recognition of the factors affecting to the target environmental element. We expect floor plan-based visualization to be used for decision-making.

Description: Global competition and the transdisciplinary nature of evolving Architecture-Engineering-Construction (AEC) activities makes it progressively important to educate new AEC professionals with appropriate skill sets. These skills include the ability and capability of not only developing routine projects, but also delivering novel design solutions and construction processes (some of which may be unknown), to feasible, surprising, or potentially patentable solutions. For example, despite recent innovations in immersive visualisation technologies and tele-presence decision-support toolkits, the AEC sector as a whole has not yet fully understood these technologies, nor embraced them as an enabler. Given this, this paper proposes a new approach for delivering education and training to address this shortcoming. This approach focuses on doing traditional (routine) work with creative thinking in order to address these challenges. This rationale is based on the principles of Successful Education as a new paradigm for engineering education, which is inspired by the Theory of Successful Intelligence, by the Medici Effect and Leonardo da Vinci's Seven Principles. The paper presents the educating AEC professionals is presented the AEC sector. The Theory of Successful Intelligence and its three forms of intelligence (Practical, Analytical, and Creative), are supported by lessons learned from the Renaissance, including the Medici Effect and da Vinci's Seven Principles. Based on these theoretical pillars, a new approach to educating AEC professionals is presented with a proof-of-concept prototype that uses a game-like virtual reality (VR) visualisation interface supported by Mind Mapping is introduced as an exemplar. The developed interface in this study applies Game Theory to non-collocated design teams in accordance with Social Sciences Theory (social rules) and Behavioural Science Theory (decision making). It contributes by supporting new insights into AEC actor involvement, pedagogy, organisational behaviour, and the social constructs that support decision making.

Description: Background: Children are very curious. They like to play games but lack reading fluency. Conventional interfaces for information-seeking in digital libraries are unsuitable for children because they are rigid, text-based, and task-oriented. Thus, this study developed a customized interface for a digital library. To facilitate children in online searches, the design concepts included user-friendly target icons, icon recognition, and way-finding in a two-dimensional visualized environment. Methods: In this study, the criteria used to develop visualization tools that children can use for information retrieval were based on theories of human perception related to graphical interfaces for information visualization systems, including iconic representations and information density on visualized displays. Databases widely used by children in the National Library of Public Information were linked to the suggested database frame. The database frame was classified into five major subject categories: Natural Sciences, Fine Arts and Music, Health and Athletics, History and Culture, and Treasure of Knowledge. The web interface was designed according to way-finding concepts and map-structure hierarchies. Information searches in the main frame, sub-frames, and linked database were designed to be simple and intuitive for use by children. Results: Information search efficiency was measured in 104 children assigned to search the virtual environment for icons (databases) that adequately supported their studies. Statistical analyses showed that, compared to the text-lined interface, the graphical interface improved the success and speed of searches by children. Conclusions: Incorporating theories of spatial memory and representative icons in designs for visualized retrieval systems helps children to recognize different categories of knowledge content and improves their efficiency in information retrieval. To improve database search efficiency in children, information recommendation issues require further study. However, further research is also needed to identify factors that affect patterns of information-seeking behavior in children.