Artificial Intelligence powered Dump Truck Smart Management System: Case Study by viAct

Abstract

Dump Trucks are essential vehicles in any construction site for carrying materials. These vehicles have always been tedious to be managed due to their multi utilitarian nature which seeks a lot of surveillance effort. However, manual surveillance from entry to exit of job sites for these dump trucks is not feasible and thus most of the construction sites lack proper management of these vehicles which in long run severely effects productivity of the construction projects. Looking at the dire need to enhance productivity of construction sites, viAct's Smart Dump Truck Management System is a holistic one-in-all AI powered solution that gives full proof assistance to on-site mangers and even remote mangers to effectively en-route dump trucks in the most effective manner. The system is a plug and play facility for any construction site with IP cameras with a resolution of 2MP or more, internet facility and power supply. The viAct's AI processor empowers the already installed cameras in the job-site with various smart modules to recognize, detect and record various dump truck related insights like dump truck count, open dump truck detection etc. viAct's cloud facility helps in sending instant alerts to both on-site as well as remote managers helping them to keep a constant check on dump truck from entry to exit. Moreover, the user friendly dashboard of viAct is easy to use even by someone who has no expertise in AI to have a regular track on dump truck count, operational hours and non-compliances for better planning for higher safety and productivity.

Full text

International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 180-186 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252
DOI: 10.35629/5252-0308180186 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 180
Artificial Intelligence powered Dump Truck Smart
Management System:
Case Study by viAct
Gary Ng1, Hugo Cheuk2, Surendra Singh3, Baby Sharma4*
118 Wai Yip St, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
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Submitted: 01-08-2021 Revised: 07-08-2021 Accepted: 10-08-2021
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ABSTRACT
Dump Trucks are essential vehicles in any
construction site for carrying materials. These
vehicles have always been tedious to be managed
due to their multi utilitarian nature which seeks a
lot of surveillance effort. However, manual
surveillance from entry to exit of job sites for these
dump trucks is not feasible and thus most of the
construction sites lack proper management of these
vehicles which in long run severely effects
productivity of the construction projects.
Looking at the dire need to enhance productivity of
construction sites, viAct’s Smart Dump Truck
Management System is a holistic one-in-all AI
powered solution that gives full proof assistance to
on-site mangers and even remote mangers to
effectively en-route dump trucks in the most
effective manner. The system is a plug and play
facility for any construction site with IP cameras
with a resolution of 2MP or more, internet facility
and power supply. The viAct’s AI processor
empowers the already installed cameras in the job-
site with various smart modules to recognize,
detect and record various dump truck related
insights like dump truck count, open dump truck
detection etc. viAct’s cloud facility helps in
sending instant alerts to both on-site as well as
remote managers helping them to keep a constant
check on dump truck from entry to exit. Moreover,
the user friendly dashboard of viAct is easy to use
even by someone who has no expertise in AI to
have a regular track on dump truck count,
operational hours and non-compliances for better
planning for higher safety and productivity.
Keywords: viAct.ai, viAct, Dump truck
management, Artificial Intelligence, Computer
vision, ConTech, AI in Construction, Construction
Safety, Construction Productivity
I. INTRODUCTION
The dump truck is generally used for
transporting materials and demolition wastes such
as gravel and sand, for the construction sites. A
dump truck has several other names such as
dumper truck, dump trailer, dumper trailer, dump
lorry, dumper lorry, or even dumper in short.
Typically, a dump truck consists of an open-box
bed, hinged at the rear and equipped with hydraulic
arms to lift the front, enabling the material in the
open-box bed to be dumped on the ground behind
the truck, at the place of delivery (1,2).
It has generally been thought that, the
dump truck was used for the first time in the late
19th century in the farms of Western Europe. In
1896, a steam dust-cart with a tripper mechanism
was developed by Thornycroft. Around 1910, small
equipment companies, such as Galion Buggy Co.,
the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation, Lauth-Juergens
and others, developed the motorized dump trucks
for the first time, in United States (2). It was
shortly after this, that Wood Hoist Co. introduced
the hydraulic dump-beds. These companies were
the ones that flourished well during World War I,
due to huge wartime demands. August Fruehauf
invented the semi-trailer in 1914, followed by the
semi-truck. He received huge military contracts for
his semi-trailer and semi-truck, during the World
War I (2). Fruehauf further introduced hydraulics
in his trailers after World War. In early 1920s, the
company offered hydraulic lift gates, hydraulic
winches and a dump trailer for sales. Eventually,
Fruehauf emerged as the main supplier of dump
trailers. Their "bathtub dump" was considered to be
the best by the heavy haulers, road and mining
construction firms.
After the war, companies like Galion
Buggy Company, continued to grow by
manufacturing a number of express bodies and
smaller dump bodies that could be easily installed
on either stock or converted (heavy-duty
suspension and drivetrain) Model T chassis prior to
1920. During 1930s, Galion and Wood Mfg. Co.
built all the dump truck bodies, offered by Ford, on
their heavy-duty AA and BB chassis. Galion

International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 180-186 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252
DOI: 10.35629/5252-0308180186 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 181
Company, now known as Galion Godwin Truck
Body Co., continues to be the oldest known truck
body manufacturer yet in operation (4).In 1920, the
first known Canadian dump truck was developed in
Saint John, New Brunswick; when Robert T.
Mawhinney attached a dump box to a flat-bed
truck. A winch was attached to a cable that fed over
pulley, mounted on a mast behind the cab, to
enable lifting (3). A cable was connected to the
lower front end of the wooden dump box, attached
by a pivot at the back of the truck frame. To raise
and lower the box, a crank was turned by the
operator (5).
In current times, in countries such as
South Africa, UK, India and Australia, dump truck
is generally referred to the off-road vehicle used in
the construction sites. Similarly it is known as tip
trailer, tipper trailer, tip truck, tipper truck or tipper
in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; and
tip lorry or tipper lorry in UK and India (1). Due to
its widespread popularity in construction,
management of dumping trucks is extremely
crucial in enhancing productivity of the
construction operations. However a lot of key
challenges are still prevailing in dump truck
management system which ultimately decreases the
productivity by increasing project completion
timeline, accidents and much such non-compliance.
Thus, the current paper covers multiple aspects of
dump truck monitoring and management using
artificial intelligence through a case study of Hong
Kong’s renowned ConTech startup viz. viAct and
its smart dump truck management system.
KEY CHALLENGES RELATED TO DUMP
TRUCK MANAGEMENT IN
CONSTRUCTION SITES
The role and importance of dump trucks in
the construction sites can never be ignored.
However, the management of dump trucks and its
performance is directly associated with the
productivity of the construction project. There are
several key challenges related to the dump truck
management in the construction sites.The very first
challenge associated with dump truck management
is related to 'safety'. Ensuring the safety in the
premises of the construction sites is very important.
In order to ensure this, keeping a round-the-clock
check on every incoming and outgoing vehicle
becomes necessary. This ensures that no intruder
comes in and goes out of the construction site.
Further, manual monitoring of every incoming and
outgoing vehicle is time-consuming, inefficient and
imprecise and thus this remains a prevailing issue
in construction sites.
Secondly,the dump trucks are generally
used in the construction sites to carry different
types of materials like sand, gravel, waste
materials, soil, slurry etc. Keeping an eye on what
each dump truck is carrying is a challenging task.
Thus it remains a necessity that trucks are
identified and segregated at entry point itself on the
basis of the material and en-routed to required
destination in the construction site.
Furthermore, cleanliness is another
attribute that cannot and should not be
compromised in terms of construction material
transportation through dump trucks. One of the
many problems associated with the dump trucks is
related to 'cleanliness'. As dump truck generally
carries loose materials such as sand, gravel, soil,
tar, asphalt etc., these trucks need to be covered
while in operation to ensure both safety as well as
environmental protection. Materials falling out of
an open dump truck can cause fatal accidents on
the road as well as degrade the environment. Thus,
it is essential to keep a check on whether the dump
trucks are covered or not before they leave the site.
Apart from this, wheels of dump truck carry mud
and soil on their wheels from construction sites
which make the roads filthy. Therefore, keeping a
check on the dump trucks' wheels cleanness is the
next key challenge related to dump truck
management.
Moreover in terms of environmental
considerations materials, on proper sites is another
problem associated with dump truck management.
On-site segregation of materials has been suggested
extensively in the literature but a full-proof system
to manage this has yet not achieved efficiently.
Finally, keeping a record of the dump
trucks is very critical. Aconstruction site makes use
of large number of dump trucks that keeps coming
and going throughout the day. Keeping a record of
all the incoming and outgoing dump trucks in a
construction site is very important to ensure
productivity with regards to both time and money.
However, manual monitoring and record keeping
of such a large number of dump trucks is error
prone and seeks for time, manpower and hard
work.
viAct’s DUMP TRUCK MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM: CASE STUDY
Organization Details:
viAct is the leading artificial intelligence
enabled automated construction monitoring startup.
viAct’s proprietary vision technologies and
extensive deployment experience can detect,
anticipate the potential risks in construction site
24*7 and trigger 5G enabled instant, real-time

International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 180-186 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252
DOI: 10.35629/5252-0308180186 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 182
alerts for any non-compliance in construction sites
including non-compliances related to improper
onsite waste classification. viAct’s well-trained AI
modules can cope-up with any kind of environment
and operate even under extreme weather by
connecting within 5 minutes to any type of online
cameras, drones and mobile phones to capture
video and image without AI and coding
knowledge. viAct has used the power of AI to
introduce an all-in-one solution for dump truck
management in construction sites.
Overview of the solution:
viAct has utilized its proprietary AI by training it in
an efficient way to provide a holistic solution to
mitigate above discussed issues. viAct’s smart
solution is a potential way for construction
industries to manage dump truck operations to
prevent non-compliances. The schematic diagram
below depicts how viAct’s smart dump truck
management system helps in monitoring them from
the point of entry till exit and even beyond (Fig 1)
Fig 1: Schematic diagram for viAct’s smart Dump Truck Management System: From Entry to Exit at a Glance

International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 180-186 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252
DOI: 10.35629/5252-0308180186 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 183
Modules & Working:
Step 1: Dump Truck Job Site Entry
The first step in dump truck surveillance
starts when the dump truck enters the construction
site. viAct’s powerful AI detects the
license/number plate of the dump truck via. Smart
car plate detection module which identifies
authorized vehicles and open the gates of job site
for their entry. The unauthorized dump truck is
automatically prevented from entry at the gate.
Thus, the AI powered cameras helps in keeping a
strict surveillance while entry of dump trucks in
construction sites.
Fig 2: Result validation for authorized number plate detection for dump trucks (Number plate hidden for privacy
purposes)
Step2: MaterialDetection On Dump Truck
Once the dump trucks enter the
construction site, it is essential to know the material
it is carrying to en-route it to exact location where
the material is to be unloaded. viAct’s smart AI
powered cameras are trained well to identify the
material it is carrying through soil classification
module which efficiently bifurcates material
carried by dump trucks into soil/slurry/sand slurry
or other materials.
Fig 3: Result validation for classification material carried by dump trucks
Step 3: Productivity Monitoring of Dump
Trucks The most important aspect of dump truck
management is its productive usage by monitoring,
tracking and efficiently managing its loading and
unloading cycle. The dump truck progress
detection module records the loading-unloading
time of dump trucks to ensure the entire operational
timings and hours of each vehicle. viAct’s smart
dump truck monitoring system not only keeps an
onsite surveillance but also with its cloud powered
dashboard the remote stakeholders are also able to
track the operational hours of each vehicle to plan
more productive approach in dump truck
operations, like dismissing drivers with more

International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 180-186 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252
DOI: 10.35629/5252-0308180186 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 184
operation hours or removing defective dump trucks from operations.
Fig 4: Result validation for dump truck loading-unloading cycle at job-site
Step 4: Dump Trucks Exit Surveillance
After the dump trucks are loaded with
material from construction site, it is essential to
perform some mandatory surveillance steps to
ensure proper operations of dump trucks. viAct’s
smart AI modules provide one-in-all solution for
ensuring all exit compliances for a dump truck
leaving a construction site. Primarily by applying
dump truck cover detection and dirty wheel
detection module, it is made sure that any dump
truck is not let to leave without cover or dirty
wheels. Apart from this to maintain hygienic dump
truck operations the system also allows detection of
the road cleanliness to prevent any construction
trash sticking to wheels.
Fig 5: Result Validation for dirty wheel detection and open truck detection modules
Fig 6: Result Validation for exit material classification detection modules
Secondly, the AI powered cameras are
also trained to detect any dump truck with overloading of material to prevent break failures
and on-road accidents. Furthermore, it is also

International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 180-186 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252
DOI: 10.35629/5252-0308180186 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 185
essential to make sure that the material that are
leaving the site is segregated into waste and inert
material so that they can be disposed at their
destined locations. Thus viAct has also introduced
the waste classification module to detect material
carried in the dump trucks before their exit.
Fig 7: Validation Results for Dump truck overload detection module
Finally, the dump truck counting module
counts dump trucks at entry and exit of the job site
which is displayed over the monitor as well as the
dashboard for a coordination of site mangers to
manage entry-exit of these vehicles in a hassle free
manner. This also helps in preventing unnecessary
jamming of entry/exit which not only enhances
safety but also productivity of dump truck
operations in many aspects.
Implementation Results:
The effectively of viAct’s smart dump
truck monitoring system is known from the fact
most of the construction sites after its installation
successfully enhanced their productivity over 25%.
Apart from this the powerful AI is sensitive enough
to enhance efficacy of inspection which otherwise
through manual efforts consumes a lot of time
along with human resources. viAct’s smart dump
truck monitoring system has been reported to be far
more accurate in comparison to manual monitoring.
The smart system helps in curbing inaccurate
human judgment which is the major reason of flaw
and bias as reported by many construction site
mangers. However, viAct’s smart solution which
facilities instant alerts in case of non-compliances
for both on-site manger and remote manger has
helped the construction companies to detect 40%
more flaws than manual inspection. viAct’s smart
dashboard with records of all alerts and activities
related to dump trucks has been reported to help
mangers to take proper planned decisions which
ultimately accelerated productivity of the
construction site.
II. CONCLUSION
Looking at the dire need to enhance
productivity of construction sites, viAct’s Smart
Dump Truck Management System is a holistic one-
in-all AI powered solution that gives full proof
assistance to on-site mangers and even remote
mangers to effectively en-route dump trucks in the
most effective manner. The system is a plug and
play facility for any construction site with IP
cameras with a resolution of 2MP or more, internet
facility and power supply. The viAct’s AI
processor empowers the already installed cameras
in the job-site with various smart modules to
recognize, detect and record various dump truck
related insights like dump truck count, open dump
truck detection etc. viAct’s cloud facility helps in
sending instant alerts to both on-site as well as
remote managers helping them to keep a constant
check on dump truck from entry to exit. Moreover,
the user friendly dashboard of viAct is easy to use
even by someone who has no expertise in AI to
have a regular track on dump truck count,
operational hours and non-compliances for better
planning for higher safety and productivity.
Thus is could be stated that AI is creating a new
methodology to replace inaccurate human based
“practices’’ in construction by helping
construction workers and managers to do their task
in far efficient manner.
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International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 8 Aug 2021, pp: 180-186 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252
DOI: 10.35629/5252-0308180186 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 186
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