Continuous maintenance and the future – Foundations and technological challenges

High value and long life products require continuous maintenance throughout their life cycle to achieve required performance with optimum through-life cost. This paper presents foundations and technologies required to offer the maintenance service. Component and system level degradation science, assessment and modelling along with life cycle ‘big data’ analytics are the two most important knowledge and skill base required for the continuous maintenance. Advanced computing and visualisation technologies will improve efficiency of the maintenance and reduce through-life cost of the product. Future of continuous maintenance within the Industry 4.0 context also identifies the role of IoT, standards and cyber security

Communication framework to support more effective onsite construction monitoring

The UK construction industry has recently witnessed an increasing demand for cost-reduction strategies due to the strict government regulations on BIM implementation. This adoption will certainly lead to a continuous work improvement, better project delivery and communication. Although the UK government has set a target of 15–20% saving on the costs of capital projects by the full implementation of BIM level 2 in 2016, this figure is unlikely to be met since the majority of construction companies are still spending approximately £20 billion per year on rebuilding and repairing the construction defects caused by miscommunication. This research addresses the problem of communication using traditional methods (i.e. communication through paper-based documents and drawings) and its impact during the construction phase in relation to clash detection. Next, we will present a communication framework using advanced visualisation technique such as augmen ted reality (AR) combined with a BIM model with an easy access to the IFC f ile on site for a compliance checking between the BIM model and the actual co nstruction site. Subsequently, site inspection can be performed more efficiently, and with more reliability. Furthermore, early warning on future occu rring clashes can be given. To reach our objectives, the research has been designed using real case scenario, following two phases of implementation. The first phase include the communication study and consists of determining users requiring a ssistance with regard to site monitoring and inspection, whereas the second, built on the results of the first phase to specify and implement the mobile AR syste

Visualisation of semantic architectural information within a game engine environment

Because of the importance of graphics and information within the domain of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), an appropriate combination of visualisation technology and information management technology is of utter importance in the development of appropriately supporting design and construction applications. We therefore started an investigation of two of the newest developments in these domains, namely game engine technology and semantic web technology. This paper documents part of this research, containing a review and comparison of the most prominent game engines and documenting our architectural semantic web. A short test-case illustrates how both can be combined to enhance information visualisation for architectural design and construction

Key functions in BIM-based AR platforms

The integration of Augmented Reality and Building Information Modelling is a promising area of research; however, fragmentation in literature hinders the development of mature BIM-based AR platforms. This paper aims to minimise the fragmentation in the literature by identifying the key functions that represent the essential capabilities of BIM-AR platforms. A systematic literature review is employed to identify, categorise, and discuss the key functions. The outcome of this paper identifies six key functions: positioning (P), interaction (I), visualisation (V), collaboration (C), automation (A), and integration (T). These key functions act as the foundation for an evaluation framework that can assist practitioners, developers, and researchers with assessing the requirements of the targeted application area, and hence be better informed on the appropriate devices, software, and techniques to use. Finally, this paper emphasises the importance of industrial-academic collaboration in BIM-AR research and suggests prospects for automation through the application of artificial intelligence

A critical analysis of the application of augmented reality (AR) for monitoring and documentation of construction site progress in the Irish AEC industry.

Sarnot, L. (2021) A critical analysis of the application of augmented reality (AR) for monitoring and documentation of construction site progress in the Irish AEC industry, Capstone Project from the MSc in aBIM

A taxonomy of tasks in dam cracks surveillance for augmented reality application

Augmented reality is an advanced computational visualization technology that alters how users in the real world can perceive the virtual information. The use of this technology for EAC/FM is being widely investigated. In the scope of dam safety, the constant analysis of concrete behavior is mandatory, searching for clues of pathologies such as cracks. Cracks are relatively common in concrete structures, nevertheless they need to be surveilled due to the risks they offer. The surveillance of cracks involves exhaustive tasks, and for dams, it consists in the execution of a set of complex tasks that demands access to accumulated data and information. Augmented reality can contribute with the visualization process of this information, diminishing the mental workload demand. This paper defines a hierarchical taxonomy of the tasks that are needed in this domain, using Berliner´s taxonomy to classify the tasks, enhancing the understanding of the points where the augmented reality can be used with better results