Automation in Construction: Selected Applications

This lecture introduces wide range of automation in construction engineering and management, prior to
commencement of construction, during construction and after construction. The purpose here is share
ideas, concepts and methods to facilitate initiation of research and practical applications in that field.
The definition of automation here is close to that given by the Centre for Integrated Facility Engineering
(CIFE) at Stanford University, which refers to construction management techniques that are “smarter”
and field construction processes that utilize robots and semi‐automated equipment to increase
productivity, reduce manual labor and increase safety and quality. Selected research and development
examples will be presented with a focus on optimized planning, automated site data acquisition for
tracing and progress reporting, condition assessment of civil infrastructure including bridges, water,
sewer and road network. A wide range of technologies utilized in these examples will be introduced.
This includes, Computer simulation, BIM, commercially used robots, RFID and remote sensing, GPS,
WSNs, GPR, digital and infrared imaging, 3D laser scanning, GPS and drawns.