# Automated Data Acquisition in Construction with Remote Sensing Technologies
## 2 Overview of Research on Automated Site Data Acquisition  
Most previous attempts in this field were focused on single-sensor models which are not usually applicable for the entire duration of a project [10; 11]. The literature reveals that the use of a single source of sensory data does not provide sufficient information about the status of onsite construction operations. For example, the point cloud data captured by laser scanners require a direct line-of-sight and they will become less effective as the project progresses and the site becomes obstructed due to increased congestion. In this way, the usage of another data acquisition technology could help to alleviate the drawbacks associated with individual usage of each RS technology in each of the project execution phases. That integration provides more timely and accurate information due to the complementarity and possible fusion of the captured data [3]. Further incorporation of captured  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Journal/Conference** & **Quantity** \\ \hline Automation in Construction & 8 \\ Advanced Engineering Informatics & 4 \\ Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering & 2 \\ Applied Sciences & 2 \\ Advances in Informatics and Computing in Civil and Construction Engineering & 1 \\ Computing in Civil Engineering & 1 \\ Construction Management and Economics & 1 \\ EURASIP Journal on Embedded Systems & 1 \\ Journal of Construction Engineering and Management & 1 \\ Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management & 1 \\ Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon) & 1 \\ Journal of IET (The Institution of Engineering and Technology) & 1 \\ Measurement & 1 \\ Remote Sensing & 1 \\ Robotica & 1 \\ Sensors & 1 \\ Visualization in Engineering & 1 \\ IEEE Transactions on Computers & 1 \\ IEEE Transactions on instrumentation and Measurement & 1 \\ IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems & 1 \\ Conference and congress (ISARC, CSCE, ICRA, etc.) & 12 \\ Thesis & 6 \\ Online archives & 6 \\ Total & 56 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: Source journals, conferences, and the publications used in this review data with building information modeling (BIM) can lead to more robust progress reporting [8, 9]. Despite current progress, obstacles still exist for achieving a practical and comprehensive automated solution for onsite progress tracking [6].  
Indoor tracking of the construction operations has some difficulties associated with a wide range of materials and structural objects that need to be recognized [6]. Activity tracking was another area of interest in recent years. In fact, an automated progress reporting system based on both activity and material (or objects) tracking has some advantages over systems which are solely based on object tracking [8].  
In this article, the latest efforts on automated data acquisition are reviewed. More specifically, methods that integrate various RS technologies are investigated. For instance, the integration of the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology with GPS-based technologies are reviewed to enhance outdoor tracking of resources [12, 13]. Data fusion of imaging technologies (e.g., laser scanning and photogrammetry) with technologies such as RFID, UWB, and GPS have also been investigated recently [14, 15].