Article

Applications of drones for safety inspection in the Gulf Cooperation Council construction

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Abstract

Purpose construction industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries is at the peak as the region is in the stage of developing its infrastructures. Apart from some positive sign of this boost, several other issues have also been developed in the region. One of such issues is the safety of workers at the construction sites. This article, based on a variety of applications of drones in other industrial sectors, considers the use of drones for construction safety improvement in the GCC countries. This article aimed to investigate the safety-related applications of drones considering technical features and barriers and enablers for safety-related tasks. Design/methodology/approach A mixed research approach using both qualitative and quantitative methods was adopted to achieve the aims and objectives of this research. Data were collected through a systematic literature review, semistructured interviews and using a structured questionnaire. A total of 37 relevant research items and 10 interviews were held with construction safety professionals, and 92 responses collected from the safety managers through a structured questionnaire was used to derive the conclusion of this research. The collected data were processed and analyzed using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) program. Descriptive analyses were carried out in which means and importance factors were calculated. Findings 25.92% of participants confirmed that they or their company had used the drone in different activates. The most common application of drones reported by the respondents was photography for marketing purposes followed by surveying application and quality inspections. The camera movability was the top-rated technical feature required for safety-related inspections. Similarly, “Working near the corner or edge of unprotected opening” was the top-rated application of drone for safety-related tasks. The safety concerns of using drones at job sites were rated as the most important barrier by the participants. Technical challenges associated with the use of drones for safety improvement was rated as the second most important barrier by the participants. Research limitations/implications Although, the research presented in this article is based on the GCC construction industry, however, since the data collected through systematic review and semistructured interviews are not a regional base, therefore the finding of this research could also be useful in other regions. Further research however, needs to be conducted to reduce the implications of the barriers identified in this paper so that the drone can be effectively used for safety improvement in construction not only in the GCC region but also in other countries. Practical implications Once the GCC construction industry will be able to overcome the challenges associated with the application of drones in safety improvement, the safety managers will be able to monitor the site more effectively which could be helpful to improve the safety performance of the construction organization. Social implications Improved safety performance in not only in the greater interest of the construction organizations as they can reduce the costs associated with poor safety but can also avoid the delay caused by construction accidents. Similarly, improved safety performance reduces the accidents at construction sites, and thus reduces injuries and disabilities caused by such accidents, making the construction workers a useful part of the society. The application of drones in safety-related tasks is one of the key solutions that can lead us to improved safety performance. Originality/value Although, the use of drone technology has revolutionized a number of industrial sectors due to its variety of applications, the application in construction particularly in the GCC region is still very limited. As noted in the results of this research, only 21 participants (25.92%) expressed that they or their company had used the drone in different activates. This means that the industry is not getting the full advantage of the available drone technology. The results of this research will enable construction industry stakeholders to know the challenges associated with the application of drones for safety improvement and to develop strategies to overcome these challenges.

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... Xu and Turkan performed a mixed-method approach to develop a model for mitigating the safety risks concerning UAV application [11], while, Umar performed the mixed-method approach for identifying the safety-related application of drones [23]. Namiam et al., Wu et al., Alizadehsalehi et al., and Gheisari & Esmaeli followed a quantitative approach to identify the effectiveness of UAV utilization in construction safety, and to identify the risk factors associated with the application of UAV in construction safety [24][25][26][27]. ...
... In many countries, the application of UAVs in construction safety is at an early stage. Most organizations employ UAVs for photographs of their site for marketing purposes, surveying and quality inspection [23]. The organizations that use UAVs in construction safety, employ them for safety monitoring and control processes [27]. ...
... UAVs are used to monitor the workers engaged in tasks where safety plays an important role. Some of the safety-related tasks that UAVs are employed are monitoring boom vehicles and cranes close to overhead power lines, monitoring the movement of the boom vehicles and monitoring unprotected edges and openings, investigating fall protection systems, etc. [23][24][25][26][27]. ...
... • Privacy in Applied Settings [4,10,13,17,24,25,60,64,97] • Data protection [15,84,85,86,93,94] • Privacy breaching incidents [18,19,22] • Human Rights [36,37,38,39,43] (3) Safety risks (n=37) Sub-themes ...
... • Construction sector policies [1,8,9,12] • Adverse Weather [17,24,25] • Drone Safety in Applied Settings [4,10,13,17,24,25,60,64,97] • Cybersecurity [17,23,24] • Interference with Other Aircraft [26,27,28] • UAV Noise Profile [71,72,73,74] (4) Regulatory Context (n=49) ...
... UAVs or drones represent a myriad of opportunities for the construction sector. These included: cheaper and more efficient safety inspections [9], faster construction times [10], and potentially, cheaper delivery of construction materials [11]. As such, drones could be a major economic opportunity for the UK [1]. ...
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... Researchers have highlighted enabling technologies for the construction industry in the Era of 4IR. (Amusan, Adewunmi, Ajao & Ogundipe, 2021;Umar, 2021;Lekan et al., 2022). Umar (2021) maintained the application of drones in H&S monitoring to reduce the cost associated with poor safety practices and avoid delays caused by construction accidents. ...
... (Amusan, Adewunmi, Ajao & Ogundipe, 2021;Umar, 2021;Lekan et al., 2022). Umar (2021) maintained the application of drones in H&S monitoring to reduce the cost associated with poor safety practices and avoid delays caused by construction accidents. Amusan et al. (2021) posited that implementing information and technologies (AutoCAD, QSCAD, and BIM 360) in the construction process has improved professional practice among the stakeholders in the Nigerian construction industry. ...
... Several challenges are attributed to applying 4IR technological tools in the context of construction safety in developing countries. Umar (2021) posited that enabling 4IR technologies for managing construction health and safety practices offers several benefits, but some factors must be considered before integrating them into construction processes. Wang et al. (2016) maintained that privacy liability, legislation, all regulations, and risks for construction-related businesses are factors construction organisations must consider before integrating. ...
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... In the Korean construction business, it was discovered that a lack of competent workers and an inadequate understanding of drone technology were major obstacles (Goessens et al., 2018a;Rovira-Sugranes et al., 2022). Umar (2021) cited legal hurdles, cost concerns, and a lack of integration with existing processes as the main obstacles to drone adoption in the United Arab Emirates construction sector (Umar, 2021). Mahajan (2021) researched India and discovered that there needed to be a legal framework, high prices, and low awareness and understanding were the primary obstacles to using drones in the construction industry (Mahajan, 2021). ...
... In the Korean construction business, it was discovered that a lack of competent workers and an inadequate understanding of drone technology were major obstacles (Goessens et al., 2018a;Rovira-Sugranes et al., 2022). Umar (2021) cited legal hurdles, cost concerns, and a lack of integration with existing processes as the main obstacles to drone adoption in the United Arab Emirates construction sector (Umar, 2021). Mahajan (2021) researched India and discovered that there needed to be a legal framework, high prices, and low awareness and understanding were the primary obstacles to using drones in the construction industry (Mahajan, 2021). ...
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... Specifically, the focus is on food, administrative, and healthcare supply chains, which are the core to combat the pandemic. The author in [8] considers the use of drones for the safety of workers at construction sites and safety improvements. The data were collected using a systematic literature review, semi-structured interviews, and a structured questionnaire. ...
... Let D * be the optimal solution. Form constraint (8) shown below: ...
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... While these technical issues do not expose personnel to increased potential for harm on construction sites, they must be managed to ensure the effective integration of UAVs in construction safety practices. (Jeelani and Gheisari (2021), Gheisari and Esmaeili (2019), Melo, R R et al., (2017), Khan, M et al., (2023), Ahn, H et al., (2023), Ilić, et al., (2022, Wang, X et al., (2023), Nwaogu, J M et al., (2023), Onososen, A O et al., (2023), Hassandokht Mashhadi, A et al., (2022, Aiyetan, A O and Das, D K (2022), Umar, T (2020), Martinez, J G et al., (2021), Albeaino, G and Gheisari, M (2021) Existing gaps and potential future works Current research on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in construction safety management has revealed several uses and challenges, but many areas remain unexplored. While previous research has shed light on UAV use and problems, numerous critical aspects need more study. ...
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... The literature review was conducted systematically using the PRISMA guidelines, Tareq Umar [85][86][87]. The search criteria included keywords and concepts related to organizational culture, ambidexterity, and public sector project-based organizations in the UAE [77]. ...
... In engineering geology, UAVs offer a cost-effective and quick method for acquiring detailed images and 3D models (Giordan et al. 2020). Furthermore, in the construction industry, UAVs inspect structures visually to identify potential safety hazards and monitor compliance with safety regulations (Umar 2021;Szóstak et al. 2023). Integrating UAVs with digital technologies improves project performance, management quality, and safety in the construction industry (Rachmawati and Kim 2022). ...
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... Our algorithm aligns well with these requirements by enhancing the overall encoding speed, thereby ensuring quicker end-to-end video transmission. Generally, our algorithm could be implemented to improve ME in various domains, like construction, agriculture, or mining [15][16][17][18]. ...
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... The collision avoidance function should also be considered as a precautionary safety measure and should therefore be integrated into drones. [2] ...
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The widespread adoption and utilization of drones often raise questions regarding what exactly constitutes a drone and the characteristics that categorize a device into this category. In the first section, we attempt to define the concept of a drone, emphasizing its diversity and the misconceptions surrounding its terminology. The second section introduces classifications based on the main features of drones to better understand their application areas. The third and fourth sections examine daily and military uses, as well as the logistical role of drones, highlighting emerging challenges and limitations. Finally, we summarize the potential dangers of drone use, legal restrictions, as well as public opinion and cybersecurity concerns, which frequently hinder their broader adoption and application.
... As technology progresses, additional technological innovations have been investigated for use in risk management and safety inspections. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) such as drones can be implemented for monitoring high-risk areas, disasters, and jobsite supervision, as they can fly rapidly over different areas [87]. At the same time, the development of smart PPE could signal the proximity of employees to hazardous areas or locations with high potential exposure to airborne hazardous substances [11]. ...
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Airborne pollutants pose a significant threat in the occupational workplace resulting in adverse health effects. Within the Industry 4.0 environment, new systems and technologies have been investigated for risk management and as health and safety smart tools. The use of predictive algorithms via artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools, real-time data exchange via the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and digital twin (DT) simulation provide innovative solutions for accident prevention and risk mitigation. Additionally, the use of smart sensors, wearable devices and virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) platforms can support the training of employees in safety practices and signal the alarming concentrations of airborne hazards, providing support in designing safety strategies and hazard control options. Current reviews outline the drawbacks and challenges of these technologies, including the elevated stress levels of employees, cyber-security, data handling, and privacy concerns, while highlighting limitations. Future research should focus on the ethics, policies, and regulatory aspects of these technologies. This perspective puts together the advances and challenges of Industry 4.0 innovations in terms of occupational safety and exposure assessment, aiding in understanding the full potential of these technologies and supporting their application in industrial manufacturing environments.
... The data captured by drones are analyzed by a hazard management application to detect and alarm any imminent incidents or observable hazards (Kucharczyk & Hugenholtz, 2021). Although there are additional risks in using drones (such as being vulnerable to hackers and invasion of privacy (Umar, 2021) and causing damage to property due to mishandling them (Shanti et al., 2022)), drones coupled with analytical software provide a handy toolkit for flexible and quick inspection of construction sites. ...
Article
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... Empirical studies on drone applications within the AEC industry have primarily focused on drone application areas, safety and health management, data processing and management, training aid, and flight control within the I4 framework [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], with only a few conducted within the I5 framework [11,16]. Sharma and Arya [11] used the IoT (Internet of Things) and a cloud server to implement a drone network to track landfill site air quality in real time in hilly areas or distant locations. ...
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... Drones can accomplish data collection and inspection tasks more effectively and at a lower cost on construction sites [6]. More importantly, drones can also perform different activities in risky or inaccessible areas eliminating the need for workers to go in such areas [7]. Finally, drones can be integrated with other emerging technologies like BIM (Building Information Modeling) and the Internet of Things (IoT) and equipped with various sensors that to automate the collection and analysis of necessary data needed for documentation and inspection [8,9]. ...
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... Drones have mostly been discussed with regard to assessment, maintenance inspection, safety inspection, and violation inspection [48,51,[56][57][58]. More studies focusing on adopting drones for total quality management inspections are required. ...
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... Esta serie de beneficios se puede alcanzar ya que los drones tienen la ventaja de ser más rápidos que las personas, que pueden llegar a lugares inaccesibles y dado que se tiene la opción de EPISTEMUS [4]. ...
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El objetivo de este trabajo fue proporcionar una perspectiva de los alcances que tiene la fotogrametría aérea para realizar diferentes actividades en la Ingeniería de la construcción en general. Asimismo, determinar si un dron comercial es capaz de realizar tareas que faciliten labores en algunos procesos de gestión administrativa en Universidad de Sonora con fines de logística, planificación, mantenimiento y registros de avance de obra dentro del campus. Se realizaron comparativas entre mediciones físicas de campo de manera tradicional y mediciones digitales en el modelo de nube de puntos 3D generado en el software. De esta comparativa se obtuvo, un valor promedio de 3.7 milímetros de variación por metro lineal.
... Nowadays, the rapid need for aerial photos acquisition for some applications has changed the direction of UAVs technology growth [4], [5]. These applications are divided into some categories: agriculture (such as analysis of field soil [6], health assessment of crops [7], monitoring crops and irrigation system monitoring [8]), military (such as bomb recognition and military surveillance) [9], architecture-engineering-and construction (AEC) (such as structural and infrastructure inspections [10], transportation [11], cultural heritage conservation, city and urban planning [12]) and civilian (such as photography [13], [14], disaster management [15], [16], archeological survey [17], livestock surveillance [18], safety inspection [19], life observance [20], weather forecasting [21] and geographic mapping [22]). ...
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Forest fires frequently happen worldwide, especially in the dry season. A forest fire early warning system (EWS) is needed to prevent this disaster. The main part of EWS is the hotspot detection system. On the other side, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology offers an alternative solution to detect the hotspot for poor satellite image processing accuracy. Remote sensing techniques with UAV working drones are progressively challenging. Drones can provide results in 2D and 3D images with high resolution and real-time. Therefore, in this research, we have used a photogrammetry application from the number of images collected by a UAV with an optimum flight plan for the mission to determine the location of the forest fire. This paper describes remote sensing experiments using drones to detect land fires. The experiment was carried out using a quadcopter drone of the DJI Phantom 4 Pro. The photos are processed using Agisoft Metashape Professional image processing software and become a 2D image. These images captured a fire simulation in a known location. After a high resolution (GSD – Ground Sampling Distance – 0.87cm/px) orthophoto had been generated, a color filtration algorithm detected a hotspot to detect a fire at the exact location. The results are almost zero deviation of longitude and latitude from the real location with 1.44 m2 and 1.06 m2 fire area from 2 experiments. This algorithm program has TPR and FPR are 0,78 and 0, respectively. Further research can develop an EWS with a combination of UAV and Wireless Sensor Networks.
... Another study (Umar, 2021) considered drones for construction safety improvements in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The article investigates the safety-related applications of drones considering technical features, barriers and enablers for safetyrelated tasks. ...
Article
Introduction: The construction field is considered one of the most dangerous industries. Accidents and fatalities take place on a daily basis in construction projects. Globally, different levels of government have implemented strict rules and regulations to protect workers on job sites. However, despite the efforts to implement the rules and regulations, accidents occur frequently. Falling from heights is considered the most common cause of death in construction. This study developed a novel system integrating deep learning and drones to monitor workers in real-time when performing at-height activities. Method: Specifically, a pre-trained deep learning model was used to detect Personal Fall Arrest System components (e.g., safety harness, lifeline, and helmet). The drone was utilized to take images and videos from the construction site, and the data were relayed to the model to detect safety violations. The system was tested and validated in real construction sites and in a controlled lab environment to verify the model's effectiveness under different light and weather conditions. Results: The overall accuracy of the system was 90%. The model's precision and recall were 97.2 % and 90.2%, respectively. The average time taken to detect a violation was around 12 seconds. Conclusions: Moreover, the Area Under Curve - Receiver Operating Characteristics chart showed that the trained model was very good and precise in detecting and differentiating the desired objects. Practical applications: This fast, reliable, and economical system can aid in saving many lives if implemented and utilized properly in real construction sites.
... Step 3 Research methodology for acquiring up-todate and high-quality articles ECAM "digital-based inspection," and "bridge inspection." The resulting articles from searching these keywords were included in the final record only when a clear relationship is established between the article and e-inspection (Umar, 2020). ...
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... United Arab Emirates (UAE) for instance is one of the most developed countries in the region. The value of construction projects awarded in UAE in 2019 in the first 7 months was more than 700 million dollars as shown in Figure 1 [4]. Moreover, more than 1.64 million people work in the construction industry in the UAE, which is around 20% of the total population [5]. ...
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... Implying that specialists and leading executive in charge has limited proficiency and knowledge on how to manage and maintain some of the vital parts involved in construction welfare facilities, this action has an interconnection influence on the necessary provision and adequacy of welfare facilities for construction workers.This conccures with previous studies results that regraded management and maintence impleation on welfare facilities at construction, with many similartes indicating that there are a knowlodge gap in the practice of management aspects and maintenance implementations [35], [36], [46]. To extensively bring in the uses and help of construction welfare facilities in Iraq, public and private construction organizations, companies and firms should always be compelled by involving and committed to providing welfare facilities services at their sites [49], [50]. This must be prepared ahead of the actual construction works kickoff. ...
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The use of drone can be a viable way of detecting and correcting errors in a timely manner, thus avoiding accidents on the construction sites. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) can reduce the time spent in carrying out monitoring tasks, improve the overall performance of the project and streamline the reaction process to potential risks. The main objective of this systematic literature review (SLR) is to analyze the use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for safety inspection at construction sites. The articles were searched in 3 databases, restricting the publications of scientific articles in the field of engineering in the last 10 years, in Portuguese, English and Spanish, resulting in 29 articles. From the SLR, it was possible to identify the advantages of using drones to improve activities related to the safety of construction sites, as well as to identify dangerous situations, identify the ideal use techniques and identify barriers to the use of drones for inspection of construction sites. The improvement in safety performance arising from the use of UAVs reduces accidents at construction sites, and, therefore, reduces injuries and disabilities generated by such accidents.
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The construction industry is one of the most dangerous sectors with poor safety performance. With recent technological developments, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are demonstrating the potential to be a valuable innovation to improve construction safety. To date, several studies have been conducted to evaluate the applications of UAV for safety in the construction industry. In order to systematically assess the research status on UAV to improve construction safety, this research investigated published journal articles (in English) within the Scopus database to determine the current research gaps and future work suggested by the publications. Thirty-three articles and reviews were included in the study. The analysis revealed a positive trend in publications in this area. Publications were also analysed based on the country of origin of the research and the journal. Prototype and experiments were identified as the most frequently used research methods. The majority of the studies, irrespective of the type of construction, focused on the construction stage. Where health and safety aspects were concerned, the use of UAV for visualisation and identification of hazards were found to be the most frequent applications. Some research gaps and recommendations for future research are also discussed in the paper
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Drones are argued to assist in alleviating the challenges and enhancing efficiency in construction. Using the construction industry of South Africa and India, and a survey research method, this study, explored the barriers and challenges, and the factors that influence the use of Drones in construction. Also, it evaluated strategies to enhance the use of Drones in construction. A survey research method that includes the collection of data from stakeholders of the construction industry from developing countries such as South Africa and India and relevant statistical methods including ordinal regression model estimation was used for this study. Findings suggested that several barriers and factors under economic, operational, social-legal & environmental, and construction-related aspects influence the use of Drones. However, five strategic measures that include the creation of objective government policy, regulations and legal provisions, enabling competency building through training and piloting licences, permitting airspace for use of Drones for construction in and around construction sites, budgeting the cost of Drones and their operation in the project cost, and creation of organizational culture for adopting technological change can enhance the use of Drones in the construction industry in developing countries.
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A indústria da construção enfrenta uma recessão por conta dos impactos causados pela pandemia e encontra-se com a necessidade de superar dificuldades e encontrar soluções práticas para os diferentes tipos de serviços, considerando alcançar resultados cada vez mais econômicos, rápidos e com a melhor qualidade final. Deste modo, este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar os benefícios do uso de veículos aéreos não tripulados (VANT) na indústria da construção. Trata-se de uma discussão teórica em que se utilizou como método a revisão de literatura. Notou-se por meio das pesquisas que o uso de VANT’s na construção civil auxilia os profissionais na inspeção predial, perícia, segurança e gerenciamento do canteiro de obras, reduzindo custos e contribuindo para melhor controle e qualidade da construção. Desta forma, essa pesquisa contribui para informar e incentivar os profissionais a utilizarem essa nova tecnologia (VANT), melhorando as condições da construção civil no Brasil.
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Purpose Construction safety management (CSM) has been intensively researched in the last four decades but hitherto mostly aimed at understanding root causes of accidents, recommending preventive measures and evaluating their implications. However, a systematic effort to present a comprehensive picture of construction safety research is hardly witnessed. Therefore, the study aims to investigate construction safety research contributors, ontologies, themes, evolution, emerging trends and future directions using quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Design/methodology/approach A total of 877 journal articles were extracted using preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and Scopus literature database and were analyzed using VOSviewer and Nvivo tools to present a comprehensive picture of the CSM body of knowledge. Findings The study observed rapid growth in construction safety research with contributions from various countries, organizations and researchers. This study identified 3 research levels, 8 project phases, 10 project types, 6 research instruments and 19 research data sources along with their usage in the research domain. Further, the study identified 13 emerging research themes, 4 emerging research trends and an observed paradigm shift from reactive to proactive CSM approach. Research limitations/implications The comprehensive study on the emerging themes and findings on proactive CSM has strategic implications to practice to incorporate safety. The identified future directions can assist researchers in bridging the existing gaps and strengthening emerging research trends. Originality/value The study presents a comprehensive picture of the CSM body of knowledge using the content analysis approach that was absent in past literature and opened future research avenues.
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Purpose: Over the past decade, researchers have used unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in construction industry for various applications from site inspection to safety monitoring or building maintenance. This paper aims to assort academic studies on construction UAS applications, summarize logics behind using UAS in each application and extend understanding of current state of UAS research in the construction setting. Design/methodology/approach: This research follows a systematic literature assessment methodology to summarize the results of 54 research papers over the past ten years and outlines the research trends for applying UASs in construction. Findings: UASs are used in building inspection, damage assessment, site surveying, safety inspection, progress monitoring, building maintenance and other construction applications. Cost saving, time efficiency and improved accessibility are the primary reasons for choosing UAS in construction applications. Rotary-wing UASs are the most common types of UASs being used in construction. Cameras, LiDAR and Kinect are the most common onboard sensors integrated in construction UAS applications. The control styles used are manual, semi-autonomous and autonomous. Originality/value: This paper contributes to classification of UAS applications in construction research and identification of UAS hardware and sensor types as well as their flying control systems in construction literature.
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Multirotor drones are considered a new and innovative technology. Therefore, many fields are showing increasing interest in utilizing multirotor drones, such as mapping in mining and surveillance in transportation. The construction industry has been a slow adopter of novel technologies. However, multirotor drones have potential to facilitate construction in many aspects. There is, therefore, a need to extensively research their applications and analyze their roles in construction engineering and management. This paper aims to comprehensively investigate the current applications of multirotor drones, analyze their benefits and explore their potential in the future of the construction industry. Several main aspects are reviewed and discussed, namely land surveying, logistics, on-site construction, maintenance and demolition. The results reveal that the main contributions are work safety, cost-effectiveness and carbon emission reduction, while there are possible adverse impacts on the basis of current limitations of multirotor drones. However, it can be predicted that the usefulness of drones will continue to increase in the future of the construction industry. Thus, this study will benefit construction managers in raising awareness of the use of these emerging technologies and researchers in further exploring applications of multirotor drones in construction projects.
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While advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enabled architects, engineers, and contractors to reduce project time and cost and to improve quality, the diffusion of ICTs has typically been very slow in the construction industry. However, building information modeling (BIM) has overcome this diffusion challenge and has revolutionized such common practices as shifting the design process from two-dimensional (2D) drafting toward three-dimensional (3D) design, automated quantity takeoffs, and clash detection; such success marks the relevance of this technology for studying how technological innovations spread throughout the construction industry. Although some studies have explored BIM adoption, investigations using diffusion models to study the diffusion patterns of different BIM functions (e.g., 3D visualization, clash detection, energy modeling) are missing from the current literature. To fill this gap, this study uses reliable innovation diffusion models to describe the diffusion patterns of various BIM functions in the U.S. construction industry. Specifically, this study developed and sent a comprehensive questionnaire to 3,017 owner representatives, architects, and project managers; 118 individuals responded to the survey, of whom 81 are BIM users. The three most widely adopted BIM functions were 3D visualization, clash detection, and constructability analysis; the least frequently implemented functions were code validation; material tracking, delivery, and management; facility management; and energy analysis. Using these responses, this study analyzed the diffusion patterns of the BIM functions using four innovation diffusion models: internal (logistic), external, Bass, and Gompertz. Using such measures as Akaike's information criterion (AIC) and variants of it, this study identified the Bass model as having the highest explanatory power for diffusion and determined that internal factors (e.g., imitation and bandwagon pressure) have the most influence on adoption rates of BIM functions. Furthermore, the diffusion models showed that the shop-drawing process and facility management functions had the lowest saturation rate in 2014 (below 50%) but have a greater potential for being adopted in coming years. The findings of this study advance knowledge for both researchers and practitioners regarding the adoption process of different BIM functions and provide a theoretical basis for understanding the diffusion patterns of ICT innovations in the construction industry.
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Eye-movement metrics have been shown to correlate with attention and, therefore, represent a means of identifying and analyzing an individual’s cognitive processes. Human errors—such as failure to identify a hazard—are often attributed to a worker’s lack of attention. Piecemeal attempts have been made to investigate the potential of harnessing eye movements as predictors of human error (e.g., failure to identify a hazard) in the construction industry, although more attempts have investigated human error via subjective measurements. To address this knowledge gap, the present study harnessed eye-tracking technology to evaluate the impacts of workers’ hazard-identification skills on their attentional distributions and visual search strategies. To achieve this objective, an experiment was designed in which the eye movements of 31 construction workers were tracked while they searched for hazards in 35 randomly ordered construction scenario images. Workers were then divided into three groups on the basis of their hazard identification performance. Three fixation-related metrics—fixation count, dwell-time percentage, and run count—were analyzed during the eye-tracking experiment for each group (low, medium, and high hazard-identification skills) across various types of hazards. Then, multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA) was used to evaluate the impact of workers’ hazard-identification skills on their visual attention. To further investigate the effect of hazard identification skills on the dependent variables (eye movement metrics), two distinct processes followed: separate ANOVAs on each of the dependent variables, and a discriminant function analysis. The analyses indicated that hazard identification skills significantly impact workers’ visual search strategies: workers with higher hazard-identification skills had lower dwell-time percentages on ladder-related hazards; higher fixation counts on fall-to-lower-level hazards; and higher fixation counts and run counts on fall-protection systems, struck-by, housekeeping, and all hazardous areas combined. Among the eye-movement metrics studied, fixation count had the largest standardized coefficient in all canonical discriminant functions, which implies that this eye-movement metric uniquely discriminates workers with high hazard-identification skills and at-risk workers. Because discriminant function analysis is similar to regression, discriminant function (linear combinations of eye-movement metrics) can be used to predict workers’ hazard-identification capabilities. In conclusion, this study provides a proof of concept that certain eye-movement metrics are predictive indicators of human error due to attentional failure. These outcomes stemmed from a laboratory setting, and, foreseeably, safety managers in the future will be able to use these findings to identify at-risk construction workers, pinpoint required safety training, measure training effectiveness, and eventually improve future personal protective equipment to measure construction workers’ situation awareness in real time.
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Although construction is often seen as an outdoor activity, much of the work is completed indoors. The indoor environment presents many challenges for the automatic capture of data during progress monitoring, quality control, quantity verification, and overall project documentation. This paper examines the potential of using robots, and more specifically, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and unmanned aerial systems (UAS), to monitor indoor construction sites. UAVs have become ubiquitous due to their commercialization as an off-the-shelf tool. However, their potential to facilitate the automation of many mundane and challenging activities in indoor construction is very high. Unfortunately, they also come with some important challenges. This paper explores the potential applications for UAV in indoor construction sites, their benefits, and their challenges. A sample of the benefits of this technology include their in-flight agility, capacity to hold an array of sensors, and automation potential. Challenges include potential safety risks if they distract or interfere with workers, navigation within ever changing surroundings, battery capacity limits, and impacts of automation. Finally, challenges of a multi-sensory smart UAS with respect to emerging technologies such as internet of things (IoT) and possible solutions are discussed.
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Researchers have suggested using different types of technologies, such as wireless sensors, radio-frequency identification (RFID), and global positioning system (GPS), to improve safety performance and reduce potential for human errors on construction job sites. One emerging technology that provides immense promise to positively impact safety performance is the unmanned aerial system (UAS). UASs, or drones, can provide several advantages for safety managers: they can move faster than humans, can reach inaccessible areas of job sites, and can be equipped with video cameras, wireless sensors, radar, or communication hardware to transfer real-time data. This study was conducted to identify safety practices that can be improved by using UASs and distinguish user and technical requirements to successfully assist safety managers in conducting their tasks using such aerial systems. These objectives were achieved by distributing an online survey among safety managers in Florida, Georgia, and Nebraska. In total, twenty-two safety mangers responded to the survey and rated as most important three hazardous activities that UASs have great potential to improve: working in proximity of boomed vehicles/cranes, working near an unprotected edge/opening, and working in the blind spot of heavy equipment. In terms of using UASs for safety inspection applications, the top three required technical features rated by safety managers were real-time video communication (video sensor), high-precision outdoor navigation, and sense-and-avoid. These findings can help professionals recognize potential applications and technical requirements and challenges in which UASs can be useful in construction safety practices.
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Preprint
The unmanned aerial system (UAS), as an emerging technology that can be used as a vehicle in a variety of settings, has the potential to strongly affect safety performance. UASs can move faster than humans into inaccessible , hard-to-reach, and unsafe areas of jobsites and can be equipped with various types of sensors to transfer valuable data to safety managers and assist with onsite safety monitoring. UASs can improve safety performance in general; however, little is known about safety managers' perceptions regarding specific safety operations or hazardous situations that can be improved through UAS use. Prompted by the growing interest in industry and academia to better understand safety managers' opinions on using UASs in various safety-related operations, a survey study was conducted to determine (1) the effectiveness and frequency of using UASs in improving safety operations or hazardous situations, (2) ideal UAS technical features, and (3) enablers and barriers for using UASs to monitor and control onsite construction activities. The results indicated that the most important safety activities that can be improved using UASs were monitoring boom vehicles or cranes in the proximity of overhead power lines, monitoring activities in the proximity of boom vehicles or cranes, and monitoring unprotected edges or openings. In terms of the UAS technical features required for safety inspection applications, the most important features were camera movability, sense-and-avoid capability, and a real-time video communications feed. Liability and legal concerns and safety challenges were rated as the most important barriers to using UASs for construction safety applications.
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The construction projects in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-member countries are peaking as the region is in the stage of improving its infrastructures. This briefing presents the current status of occupational safety and health in the region by providing a brief comparison with some of the advanced countries where improved safety performance is guaranteed and maintained. The comparison of the available data shows that, in general, GCC countries display a poor occupational safety and health performance. The briefing suggests the key areas for research which could help the GCC construction industry to improve its performance. These areas include the awareness and importance of safety, cost of accidents, environmental and climatic factors which affect the workers, occupational safety and health regulations and their implementation, workers’ well-being, safety culture and safety climate.
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Construction is one of the most hazardous and complex industries worldwide which result into the most fatal accidents and occupational illnesses. It is also regarded as a major industry in not only in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries but worldwide and it is rapidly growing. This study reports an assessment of different body parameter including physiologic factor, and body pain of construction workers from GCC countries. Demographic Data was collected through face to face interview followed by the measurement of BMI, blood pressure and heartbeat. Data for musculoskeletal pain was collected through a structured questionnaire. The results reveal that a majority of workers were overweight or obese. The blood pressure of 43.3% of the participant was more than the threshold and fall under the hypertension values. 46.6% of the workers informed to have experienced body pain in the last three months, while the most frequent reported areas for pain were neck, shoulder, lower back, leg and Knees. Sleeping hours was one of the factors which are considered to be affecting on pain experience of workers. The finding of this research would be helpful to develop strategies to improve the well-being of construction workers in GCC countries.
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Extreme heat stress has a deep impact on physiological reactions, which results in occupational injuries and deaths. In this paper, an attempt is made to understand the impact of heat stress on construction accidents in Oman. A literature review on heat stress is discussed in the first section followed by an analysis of 623 accidents that occurred in a highway project. The analysis of these accidents reveals that more severe accidents on this project took place from 11:00 to 17:00. The semi-structured interview held with some of the workers involved in these accidents confirmed excessive heat as one of the main reason behind these accidents. The health profile of the same workers is measured in terms of their body mass index and blood pressure. The results show that 80% of the workers from the selected sample were found to be overweight or obese and 40% of the participants were hypertensive. The safety performance of such workers is particularly discussed in relation to heat stress. The effective implementations of day time break in summer, a healthy diet, appropriate sleeping habit, scheduling physically demanding tasks during early morning and evening and adopting light colour and loose fitting uniform could reduce the impact of heat stress.
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Generally, a mature safety climate and a rich safety culture contribute to achieving a safe workplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine the understanding of using safety climate and to make explicit some of the main elements that have a greater impact in the construction industry in Oman. Relevant safety climate factors from literature have been identified using specific search criteria, which resulted in 62 factors spanning over a period of 37 years from 1980 to 2017. The results of face-to-face interviews with construction professionals from chosen construction companies in Oman that show a high level of safety performance are also presented. The result shows that management commitment; alignment and integration of safety as a value; accountability across the board; supervisory management; empowerment and involvement of workers; improvement of communication; and training and education are some of the main elements that significantly affect safety climate in Oman. The common safety climate factors reported in this research are based on the views of selected interviewees working in the construction industry in Oman. It is suggested that these factors may be validated further considering views of other members of the construction team, before being used for safety climate assessment.
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Both hazard recognition and safety risk perception are fundamental to effective safety management. When construction hazards remain unrecognized or the associated safety risk remains unperceived, the likelihood of human errors and injuries increases. Unfortunately, recent studies have shown that a large number of construction hazards remain unrecognized in typical workplaces. Likewise, past research has demonstrated that safety risk is widely underestimated in construction. Therefore, to improve safety performance, a proper understanding of factors that influence hazard recognition and safety risk perception is vital. Toward achieving this goal, the objective of the current study is to evaluate the effect of distractions - which are ubiquitous in construction environments - on the hazard recognition performance and safety risk perception of workers. The study goals are accomplished through an experimental effort involving 70 construction workers representing various specialty trades. The workers were randomly assigned to a distracted or undistracted condition, and their hazard recognition performance and safety risk perception levels were measured using construction case images. The study findings revealed that the distracted workers recognized a smaller proportion of hazards compared with undistracted workers. However, there were no significant differences in the level of perceived safety risk between the two groups. A closer examination of the data revealed that the safety risk perception levels for the undistracted workers are positively related to their hazard recognition performance. In other words, when undistracted workers recognize a larger proportion of hazards, they also perceive higher levels of safety risk. However, no such relationship was observed for the distracted workers, suggesting that the perceived risk was unrelated to or not dependent on their hazard recognition performance. The findings suggest that workplace distractions can adversely affect hazard recognition, safety risk perception, and safety performance. Given that constuction workers are already exposed to numerous distractors in typical workplaces, contractors seeking to introduce emerging technologies such as drones, mobile devices, and smart robots must be cognizant of their potential distracting effects. The current study represents the first empirical effort investigating the effect of workplace distraction on construction hazard recognition and safety risk perception.
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The use of technologies on jobsites is one of the recent challenges for construction management. To exemplify this, studies report the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Systems (UAV/UAS) for transportation and jobsite monitoring, and these potential features have caught the attention of the construction industry. However, studies are still required to orient the development of operational procedures for using this technology effectively, mainly for on-site safety monitoring. This study aims to assess the applicability of UAV for safety inspection on construction sites, focusing on the identification of the requirement that can be inspected and the non-compliances with the safety requirements established. This study was based on two case studies, conducted by a protocol developed for data collection, processing and analysis of the visual assets (photos and video recording) gathered from the UAS flights on jobsites. The results show that the visual assets collected by UAV can improve the safety inspection on jobsites by means of a better visualization of working conditions. This fact was pointed out by the analysis of the visual assets which provided detailed information about the compliance of safety items according to the safety regulations. The main contribution of this research is the development of a set of procedures and guidelines for collecting, processing and analyzing safety requirements from UAS visual assets on jobsite in order to identify the potential to incorporate this technology into the project’s safety management routine.
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In this paper, ongoing and planned projects for the financial year 2015-2016 in different sectors in Oman are presented. While specific focus is on the construction industry, the costs of accidents associated with the projects in different sectors are estimated by two criteria: Considering the number of workers and projects value. Although the cost of accidents is accumulating to a huge amount, construction organisations and the government can play their role in reducing the number of accidents and thus the total costs of accidents in construction. The financial benefits of preventive cost of the accidents are discussed briefly. A better understanding of the financial benefits of improved safety performance will encourage construction organisations in Oman to enhance their safety performance. The role of a safety and health regulatory organisation for conducting inspections and enforcement of safety and health law is significantly important for overall construction safety improvement. Such organisations will not only improve the safety and health performance in construction and other sectors, but will also be a source of revenue and a support to the country’s economy. For a more reliable and true cost of accidents, further research is recommended considering Oman’s construction-specific factors to estimate the cost of accidents.
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This briefing discusses the health and safety problems in the construction industry. The focus is on safety performance improvement by using ‘safety climate factors’. Construction organisations can assess their safety climate factors by using a safety climate questionnaire and can develop plans for improved safety performance. The outcomes of assessing a safety climate can be regarded as the predictors or indicators of safety performance. This can be used by construction organisations to address the weak areas associated with safety climate.
Conference Paper
Aerial drones, ground robots, and aquatic rovers enable mobile applications that no other technology can realize with comparable flexibility and costs. In existing platforms, the low-level control enabling a drone's autonomous movement is currently realized in a time-triggered fashion, which simplifies implementations. In contrast, we conceive a notion of reactive control that supersedes the time-triggered approach by leveraging the characteristics of existing control logic and of the hardware it runs on. Using reactive control, control decisions are taken only upon recognizing the need to, based on observed changes in the navigation sensors. As a result, the rate of execution dynamically adapts to the circumstances. Compared to time-triggered control, this allows us to: i) attain more timely control decisions, ii) improve hardware utilization, iii) lessen the need to over-provision control rates. Based on 260+ hours of real-world experiments using three aerial drones, three different control logic, and three hardware platforms, we demonstrate, for example, up to 41% improvements in control accuracy and up to 22% improvements in flight time.
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This paper focuses on construction workers' unsafe behaviors and develops a cognitive model of construction workers' unsafe behaviors (CM-CWUB). In the construction industry, many accident investigations reveal that workers' unsafe behaviors are the most frequent and direct causes of on-site accidents, and thus need to be addressed urgently. Based on cognitive and social psychology theories and existing accident causation models, this paper develops a CM-CWUB by adopting a five-stage form, specifically representing the construction workers' cognitive processes when confronted with potential hazards on construction sites. Using a cognitive perspective can reveal the mechanism of human error and thus can elucidate how unsafe behaviors are produced. The five stages include obtaining information, understanding information, perceiving responses, selecting response, and taking action, with obtaining information and selecting response as the two key stages. Obtaining information elaborates construction workers' observations and processing of hazard information on sites by themselves, and selecting response adopts the theory of planned behavior to reflect various factors of influence when workers select unsafe behavior. Based on the developed model, cognitive failures that would lead to construction workers' unsafe behaviors at different cognitive stages are then systematically analyzed.
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Visual inspection procedures remain the primary method of infrastructure assessment throughout the USA, but their shortcomings are numerous. In addition to their widely acknowledged variability and subjectivity, the large scale of civil infrastructure systems presents expensive access and time requirements that constrain the frequency of visual inspections and result in poor temporal resolution, which hampers effective decision-making. To overcome this challenge, the research reported herein aimed to assess the ability of computer algorithms together with imagery collected by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to extract accurate and quantitative information to help inform infrastructure management decisions. Techniques such as homography and lens distortion correction are used in this article in a post-processing framework that allows the use of color images obtained by UAVs for actual damage quantification measurements. The experiments described in this article utilize a UAV with a mounted camera and provide measurements from a representative infrastructure mockup with several simulated damage scenarios. Deformation measurements, change detection (related to structural features and the size of deterioration), and crack pattern identification were all analyzed. The results indicated that the developed post-processing algorithms were able to extract quantitative information from UAV captured imagery. Copyright
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Despite studies exploring potential applications of unmanned aerial systems (UASs), the particular use and value of visual assets (photographs or video) collected with UASs for construction management tasks is not well understood. This paper presents an exploratory case study to identify potential applications of visual assets obtained from UASs for construction management tasks. The case study involved the development of a visual assets database from UAS-based images and videos collected during UAS flights at jobsites in the United States and Brazil as well as semi-structured interviews with construction project personnel. The results revealed potential applications of UASs mainly for project progress monitoring, job site logistics, evaluating safety conditions, and quality inspections among other secondary management tasks. In addition, an analysis of costs related to the use of UASs was performed. The main contribution of this case study is a better understanding of the use of UASs for construction management tasks and their regulatory and cost implications.
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The emerging technology of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has become more affordable and practicable for power line inspections. In this paper, we propose a multi-platform UAV system and multi-model communication system for highly efficient power line inspection tasks in China. The different UAVs cooperatively serve as long-distance imaging, short dis-tance imaging and communication relay. The high quality im-age/video is transmitted in realtime to the on-site control station for UAV navigation and far end office for analysis. Our experi-ence shows that the cooperative inspection for multi-UAVs can achieve a much higher efficiency than traditional inspection methods.
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Safety inspection is a common element of safety management systems but has been subject to little scholarly research. A naturalistic study conducted in the amusement ride inspection domain identified key features of the task and derived a model fitting the inspection process independent of experience. A survey extended to two additional safety inspection domains supported the central features of the task description including generalist assignment of safety inspectors, high complexity, consecutive use of checklists, risk-informed decision making, and lack of performance feedback. Inspectors adapted to differences in knowledge and familiarity by using strategies to resolve uncertainty, including search for permissive sources and distributed cognition. The model provides a framework for development of strategies to support inspectors and to aid novice knowledge acquisition.
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In construction process, defects occur inevitably and repeatedly. It is one of the primary causes of project schedule and cost overruns. Many studies on defect causation analysis and management system have been conducted to facilitate defect measures and rectifications as well as to reduce the reoccurrence of the defect. However, those studies did not sufficiently consider the relationship of defect information flow in the construction process, which resulted in reactive rather than proactive defect management plan. This paper investigates the issues and needs of current defect management practices in the construction industry. It also presents a conceptual system framework for construction defect management that integrates ontology and augmented reality (AR) with building information modeling (BIM). The following three main technical solutions are proposed in the system framework: 1) defect data collection template to assure data quality and accuracy; 2) defect domain ontology to search and retrieve project or work-specific defect information; and 3) AR-based Defect Inspection System to support field defect management. It is envisaged that the system framework and solutions could enable proactive reduction of the defect occurrence during the construction process and that could greatly improve current defect management practices in the construction industry.
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This study meta-analyzes thirty-nine study results published within last ten years that directly compared Web and mail survey modes. Although considerable variation exists across the studies, the authors' findings show that mail surveys have higher response rates than Web surveys in general. Two study features (i.e., population types and follow-up reminders) are shown to contribute statistically to the variation of response rate differences between Web and paper surveys in the comparative studies. College respondents appear to be more responsive to Web surveys, while some other respondents (e.g., medical doctors, school teachers, and general consumers) appear to prefer traditional mail surveys. Follow-up reminders appear to be less effective for Web survey respondents than for mail survey respondents. Other study features (i.e., implementation of random assignment of survey respondents, incentives, and publication year) are not statistically useful in accounting for the variation of response rate differences between Web and mail surveys.
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Inspecting and monitoring oil-gas pipelines, roads, rivers, and canals are very important in ensuring the reliability and life expectancy of these civil systems. An autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can decrease the operational costs, expedite the monitoring process, and be used in situations where a manned inspection is not possible. This paper addresses the problem of monitoring these systems using an autonomous UAV based on visual feedback. A single structure detection algorithm that can identify and localize various structures including highways, roads, and canals is presented in the paper. A fast learning algorithm that requires minimal supervision is applied to obtain detection parameters. The real time detection algorithm runs at 5Hz or more with the onboard video collected by the UAV. Both hardware simulations and flight results of the vision-based control algorithm are presented in this paper. A fixed wing UAV equipped with a camera onboard was able to track a 700m canal based on vision several times with an average cross-track error of around 10m.
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This paper provides information on radio-frequency identification (RFID) and its potential applications in the construction industry. RFID involves the use of miniature read/write transponders that are capable of storing data in harsh environments. These transponders can be used in situations where optical scanning is not practical because vision is blocked or because labels fall off or become unreadable due to dust, dirt, or other contaminants. The technology is currently used in several applications outside the construction industry (e.g., reading meters, preventing theft of store merchandise, tracking railroad cars and intermodal freight containers, collecting tolls, and performing agricultural and animal research), and is seen as having potential in the construction industry. Potential construction applications for RFID technology discussed here include concrete processing and handling, cost coding for labor and equipment, and materials control. Conceptual design systems for these applications are also considered and developed. Discussion of limitations of RFID technology for construction applications include proximity of equipment, nearby metallic objects, costs, and workforce attitudes. Conclusions are drawn regarding possible future impacts on construction industry.
Conference Paper
Small unmanned vertical take off and landing vehicles are used to provide the eye-in-the-sky alternative to monitoring and regulating traffic dynamically. Spatial-temporal visual data are collected in real time and they are used to generate traffic-related statistical profiles, serving as inputs to traffic simulation models. Generated profiles, which are continuously updated, are used to calibrate traffic model parameters, to obtain more accurate and reliable simulation models, and for model modifications. This method overcomes limitations of existing traffic simulation models, which suffer from outdated data, poorly calibrated parameters because of outdated data, questionable accuracy and poor predictions of traffic patterns.
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This paper describes the dynamics of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for monitoring of structures and maintenance of bridges. It presents a novel control law based on computer vision for quasi-stationary flights above a planar target. The first part of the UAV's mission is the navigation from an initial position to a final position in an unknown 3D environment. The new control law uses the homography matrix computed from the information obtained from the vision system. The control scheme will be derived with backstepping techniques. In order to keep the camera's field of view, the control law uses saturation functions for bounding the UAV orientation and limiting it to very small values.
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The costs resulting from injuries and equipment damage, combined with the associated financial loss resulting from schedule disruptions, insurance hikes, and workers compensation, impact the profitability of any construction operation. These costs may be minimized or avoided through focused safety efforts on construction job sites. The main purpose of this study is to determine the correlation between management commitment to safety and the frequency of construction-related injuries and illnesses. To achieve this purpose, a survey was developed and sent to a random sample of the top five hundred US construction companies. Survey results point to a clear statistical correlation between management commitment to safety and injury and illness rates.