Ronie Navon

Monitoring labor inputs: automated-data-collection model and enabling technologies

The work presented in this paper is part of a larger initiative to meet a major challenge faced by the construction industry, namely measuring project performance automatically. The idea leading to the present development is that measuring the location of workers at regular time intervals, using Automated Data Collection (ADC), enables the generation of labor-input data automatically. The paper presents the difficulties and challenges of developing such an Automated Project Performance Control (APPC) system, and proposes a solution using ADC. Enabling technologies for ADC are identified and systematically evaluated. Based on the findings, a theoretical ADC model is presented. The main finding of the paper is that an ADC system is feasible using three different technologies. A number of additional applications of the principles presented in the paper are also discussed.

Resource-based model for automatic cash-flow forecasting

The paper discusses different approaches to, and models for, project level cash flow forecasting. The importance of cash flow management, both at the project and at the company level is also discussed. The paper presents a resource-based computerized cash-flow forecasting model. The main issue addressed by that model is the solution of the compatibility problem caused by the different data structures of the cost and the schedule items. The cost items are normally specified in terms of the projects physical elements (e.g. slab, beam, column, etc.), while the schedule is expressed in terms of activities (e.g. formwork erection, rebar erection, rebar placement, concrete pouring, etc.). The proposition is the automatic integration of the bill of quantities, the estimate and the schedule databases, using a non-project-specific database, which is a dynamic component of the model. The integration algorithms are presented. Additional issues addressed by the model are time lag and billing period adjustments, mate...

An automated model for materials management and control

Current, manual, materials management and control procedures are unsatisfactory: they are labour intensive, inaccurate and error prone. The result is waste and surplus of materials, delays, decrease in productivity and lack of up‐to‐date, real‐time information regarding the status of purchase orders (PO), the levels of inventory, the actual vs. planned usage of materials, and others. The purpose of the present work was to develop an automated model, which alleviates some of these problems. Prior to developing the model, a field survey was conducted to learn, at first hand, what the typical problems with materials management and control are. The model initiates materials purchasing, follows up the status of PO, records materials data as they arrive to the site and their movement around the site, makes recommendations, generates reports and issues warnings. The model was implemented, tested and evaluated in an ongoing building construction project. The onsite experiments confirmed that automated materials management and control are feasible, resulting in real benefits, such as time savings, and availability of up‐to‐date and accurate information regarding stocks of materials on site.

Automated inspection and restoration of steel bridges—a critical review of methods and enabling technologies

Steel bridges require periodical inspection for possible deterioration and a program of maintenance and restoration tasks in order to prolong their life. Due to the varied size and geometry of bridges, as well as the complexity of all conservation procedures, their environmental impact and hazardous nature, efforts have been made to design an efficient automated facility to carry out these activities. The available tools and systems bear the characteristics leading to a versatile and efficient automated facility; however, there is still room for improvement, as none of the available automated systems provide a solution to the problem of steel bridge maintenance and restoration, which is applicable to a variety of bridge geometries and can attend to the whole of the bridge structure. The purpose of the present research is to gather data relating to tools and systems, critically review them, and identify their range and feasible limitations. The present paper identifies the commonly used inspection and restoration methods, then discusses their operational requirements and suitability for automation, as well as assesses commercially available automated or semi-automated systems. The overall result of the above identifies important parameters and attempts to quantify them. The collection of the data on available systems and tools, and their critical appraisal for any imperfections or inadequacies, serve towards either improvement or an alternative approach, giving a more efficacious end product. This paper would be of interest to researchers working towards general-purpose, steel restoration automated devices.

A model for automated monitoring of road construction

Monitoring and control of earthmoving operations is gaining an increasing interest. Manual monitoring and control of earthmoving operations have not yielded the expected results. Additionally, because manual monitoring is labor‐intensive, construction managers have to choose between monitoring based on rough estimates, or spending a lot of time collecting and processing data. The latter choice distracts them from many other important duties. The purpose of the present model is to automatically collect and process monitoring data providing the construction manager with real‐time control information. The model was developed for road construction. It uses GPS technology for automated data collection, logging the locations of all the earthmoving equipment while working on the project. Specially developed algorithms convert these locations to control information regarding productivity, duration (or progress) and actual consumption of materials. The model was implemented and tested for 3 weeks in a road construction project. The performance of four activities was measured by the model and compared to manual measurement of the same parameters. This comparison indicated that the model could reach a deviation of ±5%.

AN INFORMATION SHARING, INTERNET-BASED, SYSTEM FOR PROJECT CONTROL

Abstract The construction industry is an intensive information processing industry. Historically, there have always been problems in exchanging information between the various project participants. A comprehensive literature review highlighted the difficulties and problems with present information systems. An Internet-based model was developed to enhance information sharing and access on construction projects. The model is based on a single repository of all project databases residing on the project main server which is accessible using Internet and Web related technologies.

Process and quality control with a video camera, for a floor-tilling robot

Abstract The paper describes the development of a floor-tiling robot. Both the development and the performance measurements of the robot were carried out with a graphic simulation system. Based on those measurements and on a time study of the corresponding manual work, the robots work output is expected to be 2–5 times higher than that of the manual work. It was decided to concentrate, at this stage of the development, on the robots autonomy at a workstation, which means that all operations at a workstation — stabilizing and calibrating, loading tiles, etc. — including real-time quality assurance (QA) are done without human intervention, while the transfer between workstations is assisted by an operator. The QA function has to identify the exact location and orientation of tiles to be taken, since they may be expected to differ from those specified in the robots program. This is needed in order to allow accurate placing of the tiles in straight lines and with a uniform distance between them. Additionally, the QA function has to identify defective tiles. A computer vision system was developed to perform the QA functions. The prototype, its operational principles, and the experiments are described. The systems limitations are discussed together with needs for further research.

Is detailed progress monitoring possible without designated manual data collection

The daily site report (DSR)—a common tool, which contains a lot of valuable data— is normally used for litigation purposes, i.e. claims and dispute resolution. All these valuable data are rarely used for the management and control of the ongoing project. The purpose of the current research is to develop a tool that uses data taken from a computerized DSR to generate monitoring and control information. We have developed a progress monitoring model, which uses data from a computerized DSR to generate information regarding the actual progress and then transfer it to the scheduling software. The model was developed and implemented in a concept proving prototype using Excel and MS Project. The operation and the usefulness of the prototype are demonstrated with a case study, synthetic, project. The results indicate that the DSR is a useful data collection tool for progress monitoring. The cost of the information generated from these data is low because no additional manual operations are required in order to collect the data.

Can project monitoring and control be fully automated

An extended research programme has examined over the past two decades how productivity in construction projects can be improved through the development of models for project monitoring and control, which process automatically collected data on the actual project performance. Tests that were conducted with these models demonstrate that this approach can help overcome some of the limitations of existing manual methods. However, they also indicate that certain manually obtained data are still required in addition to the automatically collected data. A framework for semi-automated project monitoring and control is proposed, in which both manually and automatically collected data can be incorporated. This framework integrates the monitoring of projects with their control by taking into account the impact on productivity of existing deviations from the planned performance, and of the controlling actions that are proposed to deal with these deviations.

Conceptual design of a flooring robot: development methodology and results☆

The paper describes the methodology used in the development of the Surface Horizontal Autonomous Multipurpose Interior Robot (SHAMIR). The main emphasis in this paper is on the graphic simulation stage, which permits the analysis of parameters normally associated with detailed design, as early as the conceptual design stage. The performance specifications are described and the conceptual design is specified. The simulation results determined the optimal joint velocity, 1000 mm/s, and SHAMIRs productivity in floor tile setting, at least 6 sq.m/hr., which is three times as high as that of the manual method. These results are encouraging enough to continue developing the robot, and at the same time they appear to prove the effectiveness of the methodology.