Yea-Sang Kim

Realtime 4D CAD = RFID for Project Progress Management

This research presents the integration of 4D CAD with RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) technology to improve the progress management process. The objective of this research was to build an effective and efficient project progress management framework by integrating 4D CAD with RFID technology under a collaborative environment throughout the supply chain of a construction project. This research proposes a system, named 4D+RFID, that presents building elements in 3D CAD models according to as-built progress, where the as-built information is collected in real-time by sensing the progress throughout the supply chain using RFID. 4D+RFID developed in this research aims at supporting processes with a focus on structural and curtain wall elements, such as steel columns and beams, concrete slabs, and curtain walls, which are typically on the critical path of project schedules in high-rise building construction projects. The process is that RFID is applied to sense the progress status of ordering, delivery, receiving, and erection of building elements, and then the as-built progress information is presented in 3D CAD models. 4D+RFID is under development for use in a high-rise office building construction project in downtown Seoul, Korea.

Material Tracker for Construction Logistic

It is necessary to manage materials (including prefabricated components) and identify their data communication process by collecting relevant information in real time for effective and efficient material management in construction projects. Recently, there have been many studies and developments using various wireless technologies including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for acquiring material information in real time in the construction industry. However, since existing research project and developments on the application of RFID technology have focused on identification of material and monitoring its logistics by only using RFID technology, they have limitations on identifying material moving flow in logistics and tracking location in an accurate manner. Therefore, the objective of this research is to develop a system that can identify logistics flow and location of construction materials with better performance by using RFID and wireless sensor networks such as Zigbee technologies. The system developed in this research is named as material tracker (MT), and its technical feasibility was verified through a lab test comparing with the existing tracking method using RFID technology only.

Automated Building Information Modeling System for Building Interior to Improve Productivity of BIM-based Quantity Take-Off

Recently Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been widely used to manage building information throughout the project life-cycle more effectively and efficiently. Particularly in quantity take-off and estimation, BIM-based process is getting more and more attention, and even BIM-based quantity take-off at the most detailed level has been performed in several building projects in South Korea. The practitioners involved in those projects have pointed out that modeling rough and finish interior of a building occupies a big portion of time in the whole modeling process and the manual modeling for interior is error-prone, which could cause serious result, such as wrong cost estimation and disputes. To resolve the problem, this research proposes an automated modeling method that model a building interior automatically after selecting an interior method by a room or space basis. This research develops a interior modeling method and a system that can model various rough and finish interior components automatically at once after a user select the type of interior for a given space or room. To do so, this research identifies typical interior types of buildings and a house built in South Korea, and develops a mechanism that can support modeling both typical and non-typical types of interior by allowing the flexibility in selecting interior material and components and the order of construction process for the selected items. The automated modeling system for building interior has been preliminarily tested at a typical condominium building project and found that the system could improve dramatically the productivity of BIM-based quantity take-off and estimation process.

Basic Study of Smart Robotic Construction Lift For Increasing Resource Lifting Efficiency in High-Rise Building Construction

Most high-rise buildings are erected in downtown areas, where on-site storage space for construction materials is typically insufficient due to limited spaces. Just-In-Time (or JIT) concept has been adopted so that necessary stock materials and storage spaces can be reduced; for high-rise buildings, however, transporting materials vertically using lifts still poses significant efficiency because its efficiency drops exponentially as the building height grows. Most of current efforts to counter this problem mainly focus on developing smart tower cranes, whereas lift has gathered less attention in this respect. This research aims to develop a robotic lift capable of autonomous operations at night time, based on the intelligent lift development toolkit which was previously developed by the authors. It is now in a preliminary study phase. This study proposes a concept model of the robotic lift system and its operation plans, utilizing several technologies such as an optimized material dispatch algorithm and ubiquitous sensor networks (USNs). The proposed system can be relayed to the horizontal transportation robots located in each floor to move the lifted materials to their destinations. The outcome from this study will contribute to the improvement of the overall efficiency of the high-rise building construction logistics and space constraints of the construction site. It is also expected that the mechanical performance of the existing lift system can be benefited from this research. When overall system development, including optimized operation planning model and monitoring subsystem, is finished, it will contribute to innovation of the construction technology.

An Application Model of RFID Technology on Progress Measurement and Management of Construction Works

Accurate progress management is one of the critical factors for successful project management in the sense that it enables forecasting risks and taking corrective action by monitoring project status. However, the existing progress measurement methods have limits on accuracy and reliability due to ad-hoc measurement based on the personal experience of the project manager; there are no general standards. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has emerged as a technology that can be effectively applied for real time measurement of project information in the construction industry, such as for labor management, safety management, equipment management, and progress management of various works. However, previous research projects lack considerations for comprehensive management methods of various work types that are closely related to each other since the existing RFID applications have been proposed to manage single work types or single objects. Therefore, the objective of this research is to propose an application model that can be used to derive an RFID application method by reflecting the characteristics of various works and their integration methods to manage the overall project progress.

A Project Progress Measurement and Management System

A progress management in construction projects plays an important role in providing as-built information for project planning, control, cost engineering, and many others. However, progress information has not been collected through objective methods or criteria but mainly based on an individual’s own experience or subjective judgment, which results in the limits of consistency, objectiveness, and accuracy in the progress management. This research aims at proposing a progress measurement framework that allows managing and applying various measurement methods dependent on work items to overcome the problems and limits of the current progress management. The framework was developed with a focus on integration of work breakdown structure, cost breakdown structure, and progress measurement methods, and it consists of three main objects: work, activity, and progress measurement unit. Base on the framework, an information system named PROSYS (project PRogress management SYStem) was developed to generate activities and progress measurement units depending on the characteristics of projects and work items, and to keep track of project progress more efficiently and effectively.

Assessing the Impact of RFID based materials tracking - Focusing on Curtain-Wall Work -

RFID-based logistics is increasingly adopted in various areas of the construction industry as a technology that can improve effectiveness and efficiency of construction logistics. However, the technology is not widely adopted yet compared to the potential of RFID applications in the construction industry that the existing research has shown. Since the validation and verification of the benefit from RFID applications were biased toward the productivity of managers, more wide aspect of validation and verification is necessary. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to show how much impact the RFID-based logistics management system can have on resource leveling and allocation that have a direct impact on a construction project as well as the managers` productivity improvement that was shown by the existing research. This paper also discusses issues arisen during the test process.

An Analysis on the Perception of Domestic Construction Engineer to Introduce IPD

Recently, significance of efficiency in construction projects have been increased. So effective new delivery systems are required to improve project quality and value. Those systems could also reduce period, cost, risk and waste of the construction. Also, as current government aims `Low carbon and Green growth`, it is important to manage integrated supervision from the pre-design stage to the operation stage. In USA, AIA suggested IPD which encourages mutual cooperation among stakehklder to improve the productivity. Therefore, this study analyzes the characteristics of the IPD and deduct Present condition and Perception of Domestic Construction Environment to Introduce IPD.

Service-Oriented Integrated Information Framework for Next Generation Intelligent Construction Supply Chain Management

It is essential to perform an effective construction supply chain management in large-scale building construction projects. Since 2006, this research consortium has conducted a research project, named Next generation Intelligent Construction Supply chain management (NICS), that develops a process and a system that support an proactive construction supply chain management in real time by taking advantage of ubiquitous sensor network(USN) and radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies. In this project, ‘next generation’ means using USN/RFID technology to improve the current process of construction supply chain management, while ‘intelligent’ means that equipments, such as pallet, trailer, hoist, and gate, can recognize components or material that they carry or hold and communicate the information with other equipments or actors involved by using USN/RFID. This paper focuses on building an information framework that can support real time information sharing and exchange among different legacy systems operated by general contractors and suppliers as well as among equipments and actors involved. Without the information framework, information related to construction supply chain cannot be managed effectively and efficiently in the NICS environment. In the logistics industry, many researchers proposed that loosely coupled system architecture on the basis of service oriented architecture (SOA) could be a solution with providing expandability and flexibility in exchanging and sharing information among heterogeneous and geographically dispersed information systems. Based on the idea on SOA, the objective of this paper is to develop an integrated information framework and a system to support the NICS environment, where USN/RFID technologies are used, by utilizing the SOA concept. Additionally this paper describe the identification of services and information model for developing SOA based NICS environment, and include the introduction of being developed a prototype system as well.

Feasibility Analysis of Introducing CM at Risk Delivery Method to the Korean Public Construction Industry by Analyzing Attributes of the Projects

A high degree of management skills and functions is essential to the success of construction projects. While the various construction management delivery methods have been realized as the solutions, Korean government is planning to introduce `CM at Risk Method` to the public construction projects. However, even if its effect has been verified successful in the international market, it must be considered before legally adapting the method that it would be suitable to our public sector, In this respect, the purpose of this study is to evaluate and analyze feasibility of `CM at Risk Method`. In order to do that, 15 attributes of construction projects were found, which were suitable to `CM at Risk Method` in general, `CM at Risk-GMP Method`, and `CM at Risk-Cost Reimbursable Method` and suitability of each attribute to each of 9 categories of public construction facilities was evaluated by questionnaire survey to CM specialists. Results showed that `CM at Risk Method` might not bring improper effect to the industry but due to the characteristic of public sector, the effect would be very limited.