Towards Smart Earthwork Sites Using Location-based Guidance and Multi-agent Systems

The growing complexity and scope of construction projects is making the coordination and safety of earthwork of a great concern for project and site managers. The difficulty of safeguarding the construction workers is mainly commensurate with the type, scale, and location of the project. In construction operations, where heavy machines are used, various safety and risk issues put the timely completion of a project at stake. Additionally, the construction working environment is heavily susceptible to unforeseen changes and circumstances that could impact the project, both cost and schedule wise. As a response to the looming safety threats or unforeseen changes of working conditions, re-planning is almost always required, in both proactive (preemptive) or reactive (corrective) fashion. In order for re-planning to yield the optimum results, real-time information gathering and processing is a must. Global Positioning System (GPS) and other Real-time Location Systems (RTLSs) have been used for the purpose of real-time data gathering and decision-making in recent years. Similarly, Location-based Guidance Systems (LGSs), e.g., Automated Machine Control/Guidance (AMC/G), have been recently introduced and employed, mainly for the purpose of high-precision earthwork operations. However, currently the application of available LGSs (i.e., AMC/G) is restricted to the machine-level task control and improvement. Also, the high cost of procuring available LGSs, which cost approximately $80,000 for every new piece of equipment, limits the availability of LGSs for small and medium size contractors. Furthermore, the valuable real-time data gathered from various pieces of equipment on site are not effectively utilized to continuously update the simulation models developed at the design phase so that a more realistic view of project progress is available in the execution phase. Finally, despite the growing availability of LGSs, their application for safety is limited to real-time proximity-based object detection and warnings. In view of the ability to control the finest motion of LGS-enabled earthwork equipment, there is a great potential to boost their level of application to the project level, where decisions about the equipment control are made based on the global consideration of a fleet rather that a local view of one single equipment. To the best of the author’s knowledge, a generic methodology that combines real-time data-gathering technologies, LGS and intelligent decision making tools, particularly Multi-agent Systems (MASs), and addresses the safety-sensitive re-planning, is missing. On this premise, this research pursues a methodology which addresses the issue of coordination and safety improvement through the integration of LGSs and MASs. In a nutshell, this research is dedicated to the pursuit of the following objectives: (1) to enable the project-level coordination, monitoring and control through the integration of a MAS architecture and a LGS to help better resolve operational and managerial conflicts; (2) to provide a method for improving the performance of pose estimation based on affordable RTLSs so that LGSs can be applied to a wider scope of older earthwork equipment; (3) to devise a generic framework for Near Real-Time Simulation (NRTS) based on data from LGSs; and (4) to develop a mechanism for improving the safety of earthwork operations using the capabilities of the LGS, NRTS, and MAS. In the proposed framework, every staff member of the project is represented by an exclusive agent in the MASs. More affordable positioning technologies, such as Ultra-Wideband (UWB), are utilized to provide accurate real-time data about the location of machines and workers. An optimization-based method is proposed to consider a set of geometric and operational constraints that govern the behavior of the Data Collectors (DCs) attached to the equipment to improve the equipment pose estimation accuracy. NRTS is used to keep track of the progress of the project and fine-tune the schedule based on the data captured from the site. The agents observe the progress of work executed by their associated equipment, and if any anomalies are detected, viable corrective measures are devised and executed. The inputs to this system are: (a) a stream of real-time data, e.g., location data, flowing from the site, (b) the project design data, and (c) the project progress data and the schedule. Furthermore, a two-layer safety mechanism monitors the safe operation of different pieces of equipment. The first layer of this mechanism enables the equipment to plan a collision-free path considering the predicted movement of all other pieces of equipment. The second layer is acting as a last line of defense in view of possible discrepancies between the predicted paths and actual paths undertaken by the operators. Several prototypes and case studies are developed to demonstrate and verify the feasibility of the proposed framework. It is found that the proposed optimization-based method has a very strong potential to improve the pose estimation using redundancy of more affordable RTLS DCs. Also, the proposed overarching NRTS approach provides a tracking-technology-independent method for processing, analyzing, filtering and visualizing the equipment states that can work with various types of RTLS technologies and under the availability of different levels of sensory data. The proposed safety system is found to provide a balance between economic use of space and the ability to warn against potential collisions in an effective manner using the pose, state, geometry, and speed characteristics of the equipment. Additionally, the safety system demonstrates the ability to provide a reliable basis for the generation of the risk maps of earthwork equipment, using the expected pose and state, and considering the proximity-based and visibility-based risks. The MAS-based framework helps expand the effective domain of LGSs from machine-level guidance to fleet-level coordination. In the view of the presented case studies, the MAS structure is found to be effective in assigning different operations and tasks of a project to the specific agents that will be responsible for their realization. Using a combination of strategic and tactical planning methods, the MAS is able to effectively provide readily executable guidance/control for equipment operators considering a variety of safety issues

Technologies for safe and resilient earthmoving operations: A systematic literature review

Resilience engineering relates to the ability of a system to anticipate, prepare, and respond to predicted and unpredicted disruptions. It necessitates the use of monitoring and object detection technologies to ensure system safety in excavation systems. Given the increased investment and speed of improvement in technologies, it is necessary to review the types of technology available and how they contribute to excavation system safety. A systematic literature review was conducted which identified and classified the existing monitoring and object detection technologies, and introduced essential enablers for reliable and effective monitoring and object detection systems including: 1) the application of multisensory and data fusion approaches, and 2) system-level application of technologies. This study also identified the developed functionalities for accident anticipation, prevention and response to safety hazards during excavation, as well as those that facilitate learning in the system. The existing research gaps and future direction of research have been discussed

Enhanced Path Planning Method for Improving Safety and Productivity of Excavation Operations

Improving safety and productivity of earthwork operations is of paramount importance, especially in congested sites where collisions are more probable. Real-time Location Systems and Automated Machine Guidance and Control technologies are expected to improve both safety and productivity of earthwork operations by providing excavator operators a higher level of support regarding the path planning of excavators based on site conditions. However, in spite of the large number of studies related to automated path planning of excavators using well established algorithms from robotics, such as Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRT) and Probabilistic Roadmaps (PRM), these studies do not fully consider the engineering constrains of the equipment and do not result in smooth and optimal paths that can be applied in practice. This research aims to improve the path planning of excavators in a congested site where the speed of the algorithm and the quality of the path significantly influence the overall performance of the earthwork operations. The proposed method is implemented and tested in Unity 3D game engine environment for visualization and verification purposes. The efficiency of the proposed method in generating a collision-free path, which can ensure improved productivity, is verified both quantitatively and visually. The comparative results with other recent and modified versions of the RRT algorithm show that the proposed algorithm is able to find a higher quality path in a shorter time

Modeling Construction Equipment in 4D Simulation and Application in VR Safety Training

Enhancing safety and productivity in construction sites is of principal importance, especially in congested sites. Scheduling and visualizing the construction progress in a Four-dimensional (4D) model with a high Level of Detail (LOD) are expected to improve safety, productivity, and constructability in construction sites. In spite of the large number of studies using Building Information Modeling (BIM) for visualization of the construction activities at the macro-level, these research works do not fully consider the scheduling and animating the equipment operations at the micro-level. This study aims to visualize the construction equipment activities to model the erection of a structure with prefabricated components along with other resources, such as workers and temporary equipment. The construction process is modeled in Fuzor Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) and the collision test is run to find the upcoming dangers. In addition, one of the areas where 4D can be used is for safety training. It is expected that the combination of 4D BIM with Virtual Reality (VR) improves the safety knowledge of construction workers, students, and equipment operators. Despite the large number of research works on the use of Three-dimensional (3D) VR in construction training, 4D VR is not sufficiently used for training purposes. This study aims to improve the safety knowledge of construction students by using a VR-based training approach. The specific objectives of the research are: (1) Identifying the requirements for construction equipment modeling and comparing the available commercial and research platforms in terms of visualizing, animating, and simulating equipment movements; (2) Animating and scheduling the construction processes at the micro-level in 4D BIM; and (3) Enhancing and evaluating the safety knowledge of construction management students in terms of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and equipment-related hazards using VR. In the first stage, the construction 4D context was developed and the safety scenarios about PPE- and equipment-related hazards were added. Secondly, construction students were given the initial VR-based training regarding hazard scenarios. Then, their safety knowledge was tested and they were asked to express their learning experience. The conclusions of this research are as follows: (1) When equipment tasks are visualized and scheduled at the micro-level in 4D BIM, the conflicts can be detected in advance and the cycle time of equipment can be determined, leading to the improvement of safety, productivity, and constructability in construction sites; (2) VR safety training improves hazard recognition of construction students since they can experience risky conditions in virtual construction sites; and (3) The capability of students in identifying equipment-related hazards would improve when they experience safety risks applied in 4D VR

Information technology applications in construction safety assurance

Through analysis of articles published from 2006 to July 2014 this paper summarizes the topics of research and the institutions where research was conducted in the field of computer-based construction safety engineering management. One hundred and thirty-six articles published during this time focused on Information Technology (IT) applications in this field were selected for analysis. The underlying research topics and their related IT implementations are discussed, and research trends in allied specialties are identified

A Process-Based Approach for Integrating the Last Planner System In 4D Modeling for Equipment Workspace Planning in Elevated Urban Highway

Transportation developments are shifting from the construction of new highways to the reconstruction of existing ones, especially in urban areas. The reconstruction of elevated urban highways typically requires substantial capital investments and long durations. The prevalence of non-value adding activities otherwise referred to as non-physical wastes according to the Lean Construction (LC) paradigm is one attributable reason for this. Another feature of urban highway projects is the use of heavy construction equipment. Planning the equipment workspace becomes very important to facilitate the reduction/elimination of non-physical wastes and ensure no delays to the project completion arising from spatio-temporal conflicts. Four-dimensional (4D) modelling techniques have proven benefits to effective construction planning. Still, some limitations exist in the lack of a practical approach to support construction planning and incorporate workspace modelling in the 4D model development process. Several studies with different perspectives have been carried out to describe the gains of using 4D models in workspace management. However, none of them considered the effects of the limited usable space in the reconstruction of elevated urban highways. Moreover, the requirements for multiple levels of detail (LOD) in scheduling large and complex projects present a new challenge. To counter these challenges, a considerable amount of time is required to ensure that the LOD of the 4D model is sufficient to account for the following: (1) micro-scheduling of heavy equipment typically used in these types of operations, and (2) producing a 4D model with a sufficient LOD to accommodate daily work plans. The purpose of this study is to categorize and prioritize factors contributing to non-physical wastes using empirical data obtained from a questionnaire survey. The survey results identified "planning" as an important factor in promoting non-physical wastes in elevated urban highway projects. A hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach was proposed to formalize selecting project planning/scheduling methods applicable to elevated urban highway projects where micro-scheduling short duration activities involving heavy construction equipment is critical to project success. Equipment workspace planning was considered a vital aspect in the planning process as conventional planning methods fail to consider spatial planning for short duration activities, especially in highway projects. To facilitate the equipment workspace planning, a research initiative that involved developing a detailed 4D model by integrating the Last Planner System (LPS), a LC planning and scheduling technique in a 4D model with multiple LOD's was proposed. The development of this 4D model can help facilitate the reduction of non-physical wastes during the construction phase of elevated urban highways, improve the reliability of the planning process, and reduce the time waste associated with planning and scheduling urban highway projects subject to space constraints. The research method is described, and a case study is developed to demonstrate the proposed method's feasibility