Alan M. Lytle

Report of the NIST Workshop on Data Exchange Standards at the Construction Job Site

The Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in cooperation with the Fully Integrated and Automated Technology (FIATECH) consortium, sponsored a workshop on data exchange standards at the construction job site in May 2003. The purpose of the workshop was to investigate the problem of exchanging sensor data at the construction job site. Some of the desired outcomes were to identify requirements for and barriers to sensor data exchange in construction, to identify and plan the steps required to establish raw sensor data-exchange standards, and to identify future research directions. A description of the workshop structure, agenda, and preliminary results are presented.

Repository of sensor data for autonomous driving research

We describe a project to collect and disseminate sensor data for autonomous mobility research. Our goals are to provide data of known accuracy and precision to researchers and developers to enable algorithms to be developed using realistically difficult sensory data. This enables quantitative comparisons of algorithms by running them on the same data, allows groups that lack equipment to participate in mobility research, and speeds technology transfer by providing industry with metrics for comparing algorithm performance. Data are collected using the NIST High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), an instrumented vehicle that can be driven manually or autonomously both on roads and off. The vehicle can mount multiple sensors and provides highly accurate position and orientation information as data are collected. The sensors on the HMMWV include an imaging ladar, a color camera, color stereo, and inertial navigation (INS) and Global Positioning System (GPS). Also available are a high-resolution scanning ladar, a line-scan ladar, and a multi-camera panoramic sensor. The sensors are characterized by collecting data from calibrated courses containing known objects. For some of the data, ground truth will be collected from site surveys. Access to the data is through a web-based query interface. Additional information stored with the sensor data includes navigation and timing data, sensor to vehicle coordinate transformations for each sensor, and sensor calibration information. Several sets of data have already been collected and the web query interface has been developed. Data collection is an ongoing process, and where appropriate, NIST will work with other groups to collect data for specific applications using third-party sensors.

Construction object identification from LADAR scans :: an experimental study using I-Beams

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NIST research in autonomous construction

The National Institute of Standards and Technology Construction Metrology and Automation Group is conducting ongoing research to provide standards, methodologies, and performance metrics that will assist the development of advanced systems to automate construction tasks. Initial research in this project, entitled “Performance of Innovative Technologies for Automated Construction,” has focused on autonomous large-scale pick-and-place operations using the assembly of structural steel as a test operation. An Automated Construction Testbed (ACT) is under development to research advanced concepts in crane automation, site metrology, laser-based 3D imaging, construction object identification and tracking, sensor-based data exchange, site status visualization, and design data integration for autonomous system planning. This paper provides an overview of this research effort.

Status of the NIST 3D imaging system performance evaluation facility

This paper presents the status of an indoor artifact-based Performance Evaluation Facility at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for 3D imaging systems, a terminology pre-standard, and a summary of the ranging protocol pre-standard. The indoor facility will be used to develop test protocols and performance metrics for the evaluation of terrestrial 3D imaging systems. The NIST facility was initiated in response to a workshop which was held at NIST in 2003 to determine future efforts needed to standardize 3D imaging system testing and reporting and to assess the need for a neutral performance evaluation facility. Three additional workshops have since been held at NIST with the most recent on March 2-3, 2006. These workshops provided further guidance in defining priorities and in identifying the types of measurements that are of most interest to the terrestrial scanning community. The two pre-standards were developed based on feedback from the workshops.

ASTM E57 3D imaging systems committee: an update

In 2006, ASTM committee E57 was established to develop standards for the performance evaluation of 3D imaging systems. The committees initial focus is on standards for 3D imaging systems typically used for applications including, but not limited to, construction and maintenance, surveying, mapping and terrain characterization, manufacturing (e.g., aerospace, shipbuilding), transportation, mining, mobility, historic preservation, and forensics. ASTM E57 consists of four subcommittees: Terminology, Test Methods, Best Practices, and Data Interoperability. This paper reports the accomplishments of the ASTM E57 3D Imaging Systems committee in 2007.

Report of the NIST Workshop on Automated Steel Construction

The Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in cooperation with the American Institute of Steel Construction, sponsored a workshop on automated steel construction. The purpose of the workshop was to investigate the development of new technologies to facilitate automating the steel construction process. Desired outcomes included a clear definition of issues and constraints, the identification of candidate breakthrough technologies, and the development of a research roadmap. A description of the workshop structure, agenda, and preliminary results are presented.

Towards an Intelligent Job Site: Status of the NIST Automated Steel Construction Test Bed

The NIST Construction Metrology and Automation Group, in cooperation with the NIST Intelligent Systems Division, is researching robotic structural steel placement through an ongoing program entitled “Performance of Innovative Technologies for Automated Steel Construction.” This program, initiated in response to an American Institute of Steel Construction request for a 25 % reduction in time to erect steel structures, focuses on the development of an Automated Steel Construction Test Bed to research advanced concepts in crane automation, laser-based site metrology, laser radar (LADAR) imaging, construction component tracking, and web-enabled 3D-visualization. This test facility also provides a mechanism to investigate paths towards an Intelligent Job Site as described in the FIATECH Capital Projects Technology Roadmap.

Control of Cable Robots for Construction Applications

The Construction Metrology and Automation Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is conducting research to provide standards, methodologies, and performance metrics that will assist the development of advanced systems to automate construction tasks. This research includes crane automation, advanced site metrology systems, laser-based 3D imaging, calibrated camera networks, construction object identification and tracking, and sensor integration and process control from Building Information Models. The NIST RoboCrane has factored into much of this research both as a robotics test platform and a sensor/target positioning apparatus. This chapter provides a brief review of the RoboCrane platform, an explanation of control algorithms including the NIST GoMotion controller, and a discussion of crane task decomposition using the Four Dimensional/Real-time Control System approach.

Development of a Probabilistic Sensor Model for a 3D Imaging System

The use of high frame-rate 3D imaging systems for construction equipment control is part of a broader research effort at the National Institute of Standards and Technology investigating innovative technologies for automated construction, performance and evaluation of 3D imaging systems, and construction object recognition and tracking. A probabilistic measurement model is desired for these imaging systems to better understand and describe the instrument performance, and to create synthetic data sets for algorithm development, training and testing. The initial development of a probabilistic sensor model and 3D image simulator based on an open-source graphics package is presented in this paper.