Robots – Construction Publications Inc

Are remote job site management and operation changing the construction industry landscape?

Alissa B — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 22:09:52 +0000

Are remote job site management and operation are changing the construction industry landscape?

Could one person control all the earthmoving on a job site from a remote location? While the idea may seem far-fetched, it’s closer to reality than you think.

“The market sees this possibility evolving and coming to fruition at some point down the road,” said Komatsu’s Jason Anetsberger, director of customer solutions. “Mining has had autonomous trucks hauling billions of tons of materials for quite some time, which gives us an indication of what’s possible.”

Anetsberger added that remote operation, or teleoperation as it’s often called, and autonomy on construction sites are “assets that customers continue to express interest in, especially considering the shortage of workers in the construction industry. Having one or a few people controlling large numbers of machines from an off-site location has the potential to lower costs and increase safety.”

To a degree, the construction industry has already been using remote operation. Several manufacturers offer remote-controlled equipment that allows operators to run machines from outside the cab. These have generally been used in highly sensitive and/or dangerous areas — such as cleaning up land mines or moving contaminated soils — but require operators to be on the site, albeit at a safe distance.

Simulators as a prep tool

There are already tools that can help prepare operators for remote operation. Sophisticated training simulators use virtual reality to bring the look and feel of a job site task to operators and potential operators — all without stepping a foot on-site.

During an educational session (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and the Future of Work: Are You Ready for the New Realities?) at CONEXPO-CON/AGG in 2020, Jim Colvin, president and CEO of Serious Labs Inc. — which offers virtual reality training solutions — said simulators continue to gain popularity in construction. He said they are more effective than on-the-job training and a good way to build skills faster, and more safely.

“There are ways of training nowadays using VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) that are more engaging, immersive, interesting and effective than traditional training methods,” Colvin said.

Seeing projects from a distance right now

While the construction industry takes initial steps toward fully automating and teleoperating machines, projects can be managed remotely. In the past, project managers often had to drive from one location to the next, but now they can check on multiple sites from their office, vehicle or job site trailer.

Cell phones and computers ushered in the ability to communicate faster between the office and field personnel, and smartphones are making it even easier with applications designed for timecard management, productivity tracking, job site management and planning, and more.

“There are a multitude of apps available that let project managers view the job site in real or near real time right now,” said Bryce Satterly, Komatsu Smart Construction solutions manager. “With digital plans and satellites, they can view an intelligent machine’s monitor and see exactly where it is on a site and its relation to the final elevations. It lets project managers see productivity remotely and make adjustments faster. That can save time and money, and increase productivity.”

According to Anetsberger and Satterly, virtually managing operations is a gateway to machine teleoperation and ultimately the autonomy of construction equipment.

“Virtual, or remote, machine management is a step in the right direction toward one day having fully-remote or autonomous job sites,” said Satterly. “Understanding how to use that information and apply it to equipment operation and overall job site management is invaluable. It could be a key factor in full autonomy and remote operation.”

New Construction Technology Trends

Alissa B — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 22:03:46 +0000

Construction Technology Trends

Technology is changing the construction landscape

Have you ever been pulled over for speeding because a law enforcement officer “clocked” you over the limit? Did you know that the same technology used in the officer’s scanner helps build today’s construction sites?

“We use lidar (light detection and ranging) scanners on tripods or drones to shoot out about 1 million points of light per second. Whenever a laser touches something, its light bounces off the surface and back into the scanner,” explained Ken Smerz, CEO of Zelus, a firm that specializes in building information modeling (BIM) and virtual design and construction (VDC). In the article “Here’s how advances in technology are transforming construction industry,” Smerz continues, “It’s the same technology that police officers use to see if you’re driving too fast, but it’s just recently been used in the construction field.”

Drones equipped with lidar can fly over a site and collect data that can be used to build 3D models. This fast and accurate way of surveying a site provides several benefits, according to Dustin Price, a licensed land surveyor and operations manager at Landpoint LLC. In his blog post “Lidar Inspections Improve Construction Safety,” Price points out lidar is beneficial because it:

Delivers accurate surveys quickly at the beginning of a project
Provides information for simulation and analysis when developing a project
Identifies maintenance and repair requirements on the project as needed

Tech strategy adoption

Lidar is just one of many technologies trending today in construction. To gain efficiency and increase productivity, companies across the world are adopting technology as they look to lower owning and operating costs.

An analysis and outlook by construction software company InEight Inc. found that 96% of respondents believe technology can improve productivity, and 71% believe it’s already improving the industry. Nearly 100% of contractors said they had a strategy that considered the adoption of technologies for data analytics, project management software, artificial intelligence and machine learning, among others.

According to a recent article, “Construction technology funding skyrockets to record levels” in ConstructionDive, U.S. construction technology investor funding reached a record $2.1 billion in early October 2021 — more than a 100% increase from 2020.

While those are common to most in today’s construction industry, there are other technologies gaining prominence that you might not currently be aware of, but will probably know in the future.

BIM for collaboration

Owners, architects and contractors use BIM to collaborate on design and construction at each phase of the project. According to Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG), which is managed by the National Institute of Building Sciences, BIM is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. It serves as a shared knowledge resource for information and provides a reliable basis for decisions during a project’s life cycle.

Commonly listed advantages from experts who use BIM include improved communication and coordination, cost and resource savings, higher quality results, early identification of potential problems, and increased safety.

Don’t be intimidated

Adopting technology may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be with the right approach, according to Damon Haber, co-founder and chief revenue officer at Record360, which helps businesses add the latest products to their operations.

“I was an operator before I became a tech guy, so I understand how it is affecting companies and individuals,” Haber said. “Like equipment, devices and apps don’t create outcomes; however, they can be valuable tools that help achieve them. Failures often happen when companies try to do too much or have no clear objectives as to why they want to implement certain solutions.”

Haber said there are some best practices for introducing technology: start small, set measurable goals and outcomes, and secure commitments from end-users.

“You can always bet bigger,” Haber emphasized. “Before full implementation, it’s wise to do a pilot study, and do it well. You should also look at today’s modern solutions, and see how they can flex to match desired goals.”

Editor’s Note: This article is excerpted from a longer piece. To read it in its entirety for additional information about technology trends and how they are playing a role in today’s and tomorrow’s construction industry, visit komatsu.com.

Automation gaining with human, robotic collaboration | The top reasons robots are suited for construction work

Alissa B — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 14:19:51 +0000

Automation gaining with human, robotic collaboration

The top reasons robots are suited for construction work, and what’s holding them back

Could robots, smart systems and automated processes someday soon control the full operation of a construction site? Would it make the job of a project manager easier or harder in the short term? Long term?

Numerically, there are some clear wins for productivity when you leverage the repeatability of a robotic element to get work done, versus the variability of human work. For example, using a conveyor belt, robotic arm and concrete pump, Construction Robotics’ SAM100 (Semi-Automated Mason) can lay 3,000 bricks per day as it works alongside a mason. A human bricklayer typically averages around 500. So, does that mean a crew of SAMs can or even should replace a human crew? Not any time soon, according to one expert.

“We don’t see construction sites being fully automated for decades, if not centuries,” Zachary Podkaminer of Construction Robotics, the New York-based company that developed SAM, told Digital Trends in 2017. “This is about collaboration between human workers and machines. What SAM does is pick up the bricks, put mortar on them, and puts it on the wall. It still requires a mason to work alongside it. SAM’s just there to do the heavy lifting.”

Robotics use in construction continues to make headway, though, as technology rapidly advances, and the need for new solutions to worker shortages remains strong. In limited instances, automated or semi-automated devices are already working alongside humans.

Nils Napp, an assistant professor at Cornell University’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and his students are studying robotics for building and other applications. He said these examples of “cobots” — robots that are built to work alongside humans — are good at what they do, but they have limitations.

“Right now, SAM and others like that are useful at one thing,” Napp pointed out. “Programming them to move on to a completely different function is a challenge that will have to be overcome. There is a lot of really cool theory on robot construction, such as using a large swarm of termite-inspired bots that work together to build a structure. In practice, application is difficult because the assumptions you need to make in order to develop the theories end up being really hard to map on physical robots.”

That may change as technology advances, according to Will Knight in Wired. The article talks about a robot drywaller built by Canvas that scans unfinished walls using lidar (light detection and ranging) or what’s sometimes referred to as “laser scanning” and applies joint compound.

“It has long been impractical to deploy robots at construction sites because the environment is so varied, complex and changing,” wrote Knight. “In the past few years, however, advances including low-cost laser sensors, cheaper robotic arms and grippers, and open-source software for navigation and computer vision have made it possible to automate and analyze more construction.”

Increasing automation, analysis

Drones are also gaining prominence. Construction businesses are using them for tasks such as surveying, building models, tracking progress, recording data, billing, measuring stockpiles and more. Drone usage in the construction industry has grown about 239%, according to a recent estimate.

Increased safety is another benefit of drone technology. Inspections in hazardous
and/or remote areas can be done without putting personnel in harm’s way.

“Simply put, drones enable us to provide needed views that are inaccessible, or otherwise too risky and expensive to capture by any other means,” said Ryan Holmes, program manager of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for Multivista, in the ForConstructionPros.com article “Six Factors to Consider When Adding Drones to Your Construction Business.” “We are using drones to help anywhere, from assessing land clearing and earthwork, insurance coverage, inspections, through to project completion and maintenance thereafter.”

Proven and emerging technology

After site work has been done to prepare building pads and parking lots, robotics can come into play in building construction itself with 3D printing that allows machinery to be programmed to create practically any shape. A 3D-printed, two-story house recently won the German Design Council’s German Innovation Award for its social, ecological and
economical sustainability.

The house was printed with a mortar specifically designed for 3D printing by HeidelbergCement. “The printing of the residential house in Beckum is a milestone for 3D concrete-printing technology,” said Dr. Jennifer Sheydt, head of engineering and innovation for HeidelbergCement. “We are convinced that this new type of construction will become an established standard in the years to come.”

How many years down the road will depend on several factors, according to Napp. Among them are trust, acceptance and an open mindset to different building materials, such as double-insulated stacking blocks that he believes would optimize automation.

“Autonomous machines and GPS earthmoving are proven to work,” Napp said. “A 3D-printed structure is also proven. An entire structure built by robots is different because you have to trust that the robots are correctly joining plumbing pipe and connectors so that they don’t leak, for instance. We have that with humans. For now, the questions are there, such as would they meet code, can you even get a permit, are they fire and earthquake tested? If those, and others, can be overcome, then I believe there will be faster movement toward acceptance and someday having fully or near-fully robotic construction sites.”

Editor’s Note: This article is excerpted from a longer piece. For the full article, visit komatsu.com