Applications of wireless sensor technologies in construction

The construction industry is characterised by a number of problems in crucial fields such as health, safety and logistics. Since these problems affect the progress of construction projects, the construction industry has attempted to introduce the use of innovative information and communication technologies on the construction site. Specific technologies which find applicability on the construction site are wireless sensors, and especially radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. RFID tagging is a technology capable of tracking items. The technology has been applied on the construction site for various applications, such as asset tracking. There are many problems related to health, safety and logistics on the construction site which could be resolved using RFID technology. In the health and safety field, the problems which exist are the monitoring of dangerous areas on the construction site, such as large excavation areas, the collisions between workers and vehicles, between vehicles and equipment and between vehicles, the detection of hazardous substances on the construction site when the construction work has been completed and the collection of hazard notifications from specific areas of the construction site as feedback for the prevention of future accidents. In the logistics field, the tracking of a material during its delivery on the construction site, its transportation to specific subcontractors and its future utilisation as well as the monitoring of the rate of use of materials on the construction site, the checking of the sequence of steel members and the monitoring of the temperature of porous materials are issues which can be realised using RFID technology. In order to facilitate the use of RFID technology for the specific health, safety and logistics problems, a system has been developed. The operation of this system is based on the combined use of hardware and software elements. The hardware elements of the developed system are a wireless local area network, RFID readers and tags. Its software elements are a software development kit based on which, a number of graphical user interfaces have been created for the interaction of the users with the REID tags, and Notepad files which store data collected from REID tags through the graphical user interfaces. Each of the graphical user interfaces is designed in such a way so that it corresponds to the requirements of the health, safety or logistics situation in which it is used. The proposed system has been tested on a simulated construction site by a group of experts and a number of findings have been produced. Specifically, the testing of the proposed system showed that RFID technology can connect the different stages which characterise the construction supply chain. In addition, it showed the capability of the technology to be integrated with construction processes. The testing of the system also revealed the barriers and the enablers to the use of RFID technology in the construction industry. An example of such a barrier is the unwillingness of the people of the construction industry to quit traditional techniques in favour of a new technology. Enablers which enhance the use of RFID technology in the construction industry are the lack of complexity which characterises the operation of RFID tagging and the relatively low cost of RFID tags. In general, RFID technology is an innovative sensor technology which can help the construction industry through its asset tracking ability. However, further research should be done on the improvement of RFID technology on specific characteristics, such as its inability to provide location coordinates and the resilience of the electromagnetic signal emitted by the RFID reader when there are metallic objects around the reader

Developing a Multi-Attribute Utility Model (MAUM) for selecting information technologies in the construction industry

The construction industry lags behind other industries in adopting new information technologies (ITs). The current construction procedures used to transfer data need to be updated. The most common data capture technologies are bar code and radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging. Although bar code and RFID systems are quite different, they might accomplish the same tasks.;In fact, so many new data capture technologies now exist that industry managers are often perplexed when they plan a new system. This research develops a decision tool that enables decision makers in the construction industry to select the most appropriate data capturing technology for their construction applications. This decision tool is a systematic evaluation model based upon the Multi-Attribute Utility theory (MAUT).;This Multi-Attribute Utility Model (MAUM) can be adapted to evaluate other construction-related applications such as construction equipment, building methods, and new projects. MAUM is also a good group decision-making tool that considers all decision makers\u27 concerns and objectives.;MAUM\u27s feasibility as a decision tool was assessed by both laboratory technicians and information technology professionals (ITPs) at six material testing labs, both private and government. Aggregate utilities were calculated for 10 different bar code and RFID portable data terminals (PDTs). These aggregate utilities simultaneously combine technical-merit, economic-merit, and low-risk merit utilities for the PDTs. Two RFID and one bar code systems achieved the greatest aggregate utilities, indicating that some bar code systems can be better than other RFID systems.;There were not many significant differences between government and private labs, although private labs are profit oriented and thus more cost conscious, making them more selective in systems technical performance. The study showed that ITPs are more concerned about technical specifications of the PDTs, while technicians are more concerned about its environmental reliability. Sensitivity analysis revealed that changes in model interaction relationships, system cost, and the aggregation rules had no major effect on the ranking of top systems

Data storage on radio frequency identification tags in construction industry

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2010Thesis (M.Sc.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 2010Radyo Frekanslı Tanımlama (RFID) teknolojisi nesnelerin radyo dalgaları yoluyla otomatik olarak tanımlanmasını sağlayan ve aynı zamanda nesneler üzerinde bilgi saklanmasına olanak veren bir teknolojidir. RFID teknolojisinin inşaat sektöründeki uygulamaları incelendiğinde, verilerin RFID etiketleri üzerinde mi yoksa bir ağ üzerinde mi saklanacağı konusu üzerinde görüş ayrılıkları olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Özellikle inşaat sektörü gibi değişken ve kontrolsüz koşullar altında çalışılan bir sektörde, her zaman bir ağ bağlantısının kurulabilmesi mümkün olmayabilmektedir. Bunun yanı sıra bazı tür bilgilerin merkezi bir veritabanında saklanması veriye ulaşım ve hafıza kısıtları açısından daha uygun olmaktadır. Ancak yapılan incelemelerde, farklı uygulamalarda ne tür bir yaklaşım izlenmesi gerektiğinin çok net olmadığı belirlenmiştir.Bu çalışmanın amacı inşaat sektöründe RFID etiketleri üzerinde lokal olarak bilgi saklanmasının hangi koşullar altında daha uygun olduğunun belirlenmesidir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda mevcut uygulamalarda hangi koşullarda etiketler üzerinde ne tür bilgilerin saklandığı belirlenmiştir. İnşaat Sektörü’ndeki RFID uygulamalarına ek olarak RFID teknolojisinin yoğun olarak kullanıldığı beş büyük sektörden yüzün üzerinde uygulama incelenmiştir. Uygulamalar sırasında farklı tür veri saklama yaklaşımı gerektiren koşullar saptanarak, RFID etiketleri üzerinde saklanan bilgi türleri belirlenmiştir. Sonuçlar İnşaat Sektörü’nün koşul ve beklentileri doğrultusunda özel olarak geliştirilmiş, yüksek bellek kapasiteli RFID etiketleri ve/veya veri depolama ortamlarına ihtiyaç duyulduğunu göstermektedir.Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology automatically identifies tags that are attached to objects through the use of radio waves and enables local storage of objectrelated data on objects. When RFID applications within the construction industry are examined, an ongoing debate is observed as to whether the necessary data should be stored on RFID tags or on a network. Especially in uncontrolled and dynamic environments as in construction industry, network accessibility might not be always provided throughout the lifecycle of an object. On the other hand, storing certain types of data on a central database can be more suitable in terms of data acquisition and memory constraints. However, investigation of the current research showed that it is still not clear which type of data storage approach needs to be followed in different applications.The main goal of this thesis is to determine under which conditions storing data on the tag is more appropriate for the construction industry. In accordance with this purpose,the types of data that are being stored under different conditions are determined. More than one hundred RFID technology applications were investigated within the construction industry as well as in other five major RFID adopter industries. Factors and conditions that affect the type of data storage concept and the data types stored within these RFID applications are determined. The results show that there is a need for tags/storage mediums that are specially designed for construction industry with large memories.Yüksek LisansM.Sc

Antecedents and outcomes of brand management from the perspective of resource based view (RBV) theory

Brand management requires greater emphasis on internal factors to increase brand performance. A model of antecedents and outcomes of brand management is developed in this study based on the Resource Based View (RBV) Theory. Top management emphasis on brand, corporate supportive resources and market orientation are identified as crucial internal factors or antecedents for success of brand management. Apart from that, the brand management measurement are expanded in this study with the introduction of three new marketing constructs namely marketing capabilities, innovation and brand orientation as new dimensions in brand management which currently comprised of management related constructs. This study also contributes in the brand management of small and medium enterprise (SMEs) literature as previous studies mainly focused on the brand management for multinational companies or large organizations. One important issue of SMEs is the “internal” brand management which is currently under-researched even though it is critical in brand building and management. Therefore, this research aims to highlight the antecedents and outcomes of brand management in Malaysians’ SMEs based on RBV theory. A comprehensive literature review was done and a conceptual model is proposed in this literature review

Feasibility Study of RFID Technology for Construction Load Tracking

INE/AUTC 10.0

Teaching and learning mathematics and science in English in primary schools in the state of Johor, Malaysia

This article attempts to highlight the opinions of the public on the effectiveness of the use of English in teaching and learning Mathematics and Science (PPSMI) in primary schools in Johor. After nearly six years of its implementation, some people found out that the students have not demonstrated a good command of the language and the acquisition of knowledge of Mathematics and Science is seen to be declining. The teachers also do not seem to adapt well in the implementation. A group of respondents from among the headmasters and headmistress have given their views through a questionnaire and structured interview that showed the government's intention to strengthen the English language in teaching and learning Mathematics and Science did not show an impressive result. Thus, the study suggests that the government can try to give an option of using both languages in the implementation of this policy

A robust digital image watermarking using repetition codes against common attacks

Digital watermarking is hiding the information inside a digital media to protect for such documents against malicious intentions to change such documents or even claim the rights of such documents. Currently the capability of repetition codes on various attacks in not sufficiently studied. In this project, a robust frequency domain watermarking scheme has been implemented using Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). The idea of this scheme is to embed an encoded watermark using repetition code (3, 1) inside the cover image pixels based on Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) embedding technique. The proposed methods have undergone several simulation attacks tests in order to check up and compare their robustness against various attacks, like salt and pepper, speckle, compress, Gaussian, image contrast, resizing and cropping attack. The robustness of the watermarking scheme has been calculated using Peak Signal-To-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Mean Squared Error (MSE) and Normalized Correlations (NC). In our experiments, the results show that the robustness of a watermark with repetition codes is much better than without repetition code

An assistive robotics control system based on speech semantic recognition

Since 90’s era, many researchers and organizations are working on assistive technologies to ease the disabilities people to move around freely, independence, comfort and have the capabilities to enjoy life to the fullest. Nowadays, most of assistive technologies such as manual wheelchairs are propelled by patients sitting on the chair and physically turning the large rear wheels with hand or need helpers to push the chair by handles from behind of the wheelchair. Meanwhile, most of voice command wheelchair unable to deal with an unknown word and cannot take spontaneous speech data from the native speakers. Thus, this project proposes a method of control system for an assistive robotic based on speech semantic recognition through hardware implementation. Consequently, the purpose of this project is to develop a system based on speech semantic or meaning or the interpretation of a word, sentence, or others language form that can be used for an assistive robot. The mobile robot is represented as a wheelchair and a home prototype floor plan is represented as a house with four rooms (living room, toilet, kitchen and bedroom). The mobile robot moves according to the semantic of user commands and the commands are given on Android application Arduino Bluetooth Controller. This Android application is used to catch the command using Google Voice and send the command through Bluetooth HC-05 that connected to the Arduino. Moreover, the obstacle avoidance sensor used for this project is SHARP IR Distance Measurement sensor that standby when their obstacles in front of this mobile robot and the navigation system of this mobile robot are using Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). The effectiveness of this mobile robot has been tested using qualitative method by gathered 12 respondents to test this mobile robot on the floor plan. The total effectiveness of this mobile robot is 83%. This mobile robot is still effective but there are some parts that are still missing and need to be improved. Finally, the main contribution of this project is to help physically handicapped people such as patients who cannot move their feet by controlling using speech meanings through helpful robotics applications