Automated Site Data Acquisition for Effective Project Control (2013)

Tracking and control of construction projects depend primarily on the accuracy,\nfrequency and time required to collect actual onsite data of construction operations that\ncharacterize the work progress. Earned Value Analysis (EVA) is being used for reporting work\nprogress and for forecasting project status at completion and at any future time horizon. Critical\nto its reliable application is accurate and timely data for quantifying the budgeted cost of work\nperformed. Automated site data acquisition has received considerable attention in recent years\nto circumvent the limitations of manual data collection. The limitations of existing models lie\nin their inability to measure the progress of different types of construction activities from\ninception to completion in near real-time.\nThe objective of this research is to study and analyze the characteristics of automated\ndata acquisition technologies in construction. This thesis is carried out with a focus on\nautomating the process of data collection and project control. An automated model is developed\nthat integrates project visualization-information aspects, automated site data acquisition and\nearned value analysis. The developed model consists of two main frameworks; one is for data\nacquisition and the other for data analysis and processing. Data acquisition is carried out using\nthe integrated automated data acquisition technologies embedded in the tablet PC used in this\nresearch as well as others, referred to here as independent, automated data acquisition\ntechnologies. The developed model makes full use of 4D BIM to provide visualization and\npertinent information of activities in progress. The developed model embraces the human\nfactors to augment the visualization-information aspects, localization technologies and\ndevelopment of progress templates. The developed model demonstrated the significance of\ndata fusion of a wide range of automated site data acquisition technologies and\nvisualization-information technologies.\nA prime focus is placed on extensive field studies and experimental work. Field studies\non construction jobsite are conducted utilizing a wide range of technologies such as 3D\nScanner, RFID and GPS. Extensive experimental work is conducted to develop deployment\nprotocols for utilization of Ultra High Frequency (UHF) passive RFID in localization and\nmaterial tracking. The field and lab work resulted in a number of observations, findings, and\nlessons learned for deployment of passive RFID in construction. The results presented in this\nstudy demonstrate the potential use of short range RFIDs in location estimation and material\ntracking in a cost-effective manner for indoor construction operations. The developed method\nfor location identification and material tracking using RFID technology can be used to obtain\ninformation required for scalable, near-real-time decision-making and timely tracking of\nproject status.\nThe developed methods and algorithms are implemented in prototype software. It\nconsists of two computational frameworks; BIM+ and Control+. BIM+ is Two-Tier software,\nwhich utilizes an object-oriented BIM model. So, it can be used as an advanced tool for data\nacquisition through the user’s tablet PC. Control+ is Three-Tier Web-Based software for\nprocessing the captured data from the tablet PC and independent automated data acquisition\ntechnologies. The developed model, methods, algorithms and software constitute a step\nahead of current progress reporting applications and expand upon automated site data\nacquisition technologies and visualization-information technologies use in construction.