Exploratory Study of Potential Applications of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Construction Management Tasks
01 May 2016-Journal of Management in Engineering (American Society of Civil Engineers)-Vol. 32, Iss: 3, pp 05016001-05016001
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an exploratory case study to identify potential applications of visual assets obtained from UAVs for construction management tasks, including project progress monitoring, job site logistics, evaluating safety conditions, and quality inspections among other secondary management tasks.
Abstract: 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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DOI•
25 Nov 2021
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present UAV classification, control applications, and future directions in industry and research interest, as well as the challenges for UAVs, including battery charging, collision avoidance, and security.
Abstract: Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have gained widespread interest in civilian and military applications, which has led to the development of novel UAVs that can perform various operations. UAVs are aircraft that can fly without the need of a human pilot onboard, meaning they can fly either autonomously or be remotely piloted. They can be equipped with multiple sensors, including cameras, inertial measurement units (IMUs), LiDAR, and GPS, to collect and transmit data in real time. Due to the demand for UAVs in various applications such as precision agriculture, search and rescue, wireless communications, and surveillance, several types of UAVs have been invented with different specifications for their size, weight, range and endurance, engine type, and configuration. Because of this variety, the design process and analysis are based on the type of UAV, with the availability of several control techniques that could be used to improve the flight of the UAV in order to avoid obstacles and potential collisions, as well as find the shortest path to save the battery life with the support of optimization techniques. However, UAVs face several challenges in order to fly smoothly, including collision avoidance, battery life, and intruders. This review paper presents UAVs’ classification, control applications, and future directions in industry and research interest. For the design process, fabrication, and analysis, various control approaches are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the challenges for UAVs, including battery charging, collision avoidance, and security, are also presented and discussed.
37 citations
TL;DR: A novel dynamic Artificial Potential Field (D-APF) path planning technique is developed for multirotor UAVs for following ground moving targets and outperforms the general APFs as it is more suitable for Uavs flying in environments with dynamic and unknown obstacles.
Abstract: Path planning is a vital and challenging component in the support of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and their deployment in autonomous missions, such as following ground moving target. Few attempts are reported in the literature on multirotor UAV path planning techniques for following ground moving targets despite the great improvement in their control dynamics, flying behaviors and hardware specifications. These attempts suffer several drawbacks including their hardware dependency, high computational requirements, inability to handle obstacles and dynamic environments in addition to their low performance regarding the moving target speed variations. In this paper, a novel dynamic Artificial Potential Field (D-APF) path planning technique is developed for multirotor UAVs for following ground moving targets. The UAV produced path is a smooth and flyable path suitable to dynamic environments with obstacles and can handle different motion profiles for the ground moving target including change in speed and direction. Additionally, the proposed path planning technique effectively supports UAVs following ground moving targets while maneuvering ahead and at a standoff distance from the target. It is hardware-independent where it can be used on most types of multirotor UAVs with an autopilot flight controller and basic sensors for distance measurements. The developed path planning technique is tested and validated against existing general potential field techniques for different simulation scenarios in ROS and gazebo-supported PX4-SITL. Simulation results show that the proposed D-APF is better suited for UAV path planning for following moving ground targets compared to existing general APFs. In addition, it outperforms the general APFs as it is more suitable for UAVs flying in environments with dynamic and unknown obstacles.
36 citations
Cites background from "Exploratory Study of Potential Appl..."
...Therefore, there has been an increasing trend of adoptingmultirotor UAVs for military and non-military applications [8] such as providing security and conveying protection for mobile targets, capturing live videos and pictures for sport events [9], information collection for better situational awareness [10], and wildlife monitoring [11]....
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TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the literature on the use of remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs) for construction activities is presented, where the authors identify, collated and categorized five thematic groups, namely technical difficulties, restrictive regulatory environment, site-related problems, weather and organizational barriers.
Abstract: Extant literature extensively articulates the advantages of using remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs) in a myriad of construction activities. Yet, the barriers that hinder their wider adoption on construction projects have received scant academic attention. This study aims at addressing this gap in the literature.,This study reviews 59 papers published on the use of RPAs for construction activities and offers an evaluation of barriers to widespread adoption throughout the sector.,Barriers are identified, collated and categorized into five thematic groups, namely, technical difficulties, restrictive regulatory environment, site-related problems, weather and organizational barriers.,The paper contributes to knowledge by: signposting a need for reordering priorities when defining future research on RPAs, suggesting measures to address the barriers identified and providing pragmatic guidance for construction companies intending to use RPAs on their projects.,Using the task–technology fit theory, the study uncovers that current RPA technology is an under-fit match for construction activities and represents a prominent barrier to adoption. This is a dissenting finding, given that past studies on RPAs have primarily focused upon addressing public acceptance, concerns and societal consequences. Enablers of the identified barriers are also collated from extant literature and contemporary practice and encapsulated in a conceptual model.
31 citations
Cites background or methods from "Exploratory Study of Potential Appl..."
...RPAs have also been used to enhance safety on construction sites (Seo et al., 2015; Irizarry and Costa, 2016; Melo et al., 2017; Alsafouri and Ayer, 2018) and have been integrated with BIM to create a new innovative application of the technology (Teizer, 2015; Hamledari et al., 2017b; Han and…...
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...Land surveying and inspection tasks conducted by RPAs produce large-sized images/videos and, consequently, require a reliable and efficient transferring platform and storageprocess (Irizarry and Costa, 2016; Han and Golparvar-Fard, 2017)....
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...…include: operating in areas where workers have restricted or no access, using “engineered-out” solutions such as alarming systems and/or deploying safe systems of working such as using an aircraft information map and a traffic controlling system on site (Irizarry and Costa, 2016; Kim et al., 2016)....
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...RPAs have also been used to enhance safety on construction sites (Seo et al., 2015; Irizarry and Costa, 2016; Melo et al., 2017; Alsafouri and Ayer, 2018) and have been integrated with BIM to create a new innovative application of the technology (Teizer, 2015; Hamledari et al....
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...This could include: operating in areas where workers have restricted or no access, using “engineered-out” solutions such as alarming systems and/or deploying safe systems of working such as using an aircraft information map and a traffic controlling system on site (Irizarry and Costa, 2016; Kim et al., 2016)....
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TL;DR: iSafeUAS is introduced as an initial effort to develop and assess a platform designed for safety inspection purposes with customized features such as a super optical zoom RGB Camera and a Parachute Recovery System to ensure safe yet accurate visual data acquisition without the need to fly over or near populated areas.
28 citations
16 Jun 2016-The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
TL;DR: Results show that the crane camera approach has the potential to reach the same accuracy level as the terrestrial acquisition approach, and the UAV approach can provide the best coverage by combining nadir and oblique views, but can be limited by obstacles and security aspects.
Abstract: . Construction site monitoring is an essential task for keeping track of the ongoing construction work and providing up-to-date information for a Building Information Model (BIM). The BIM contains the as-planned states (geometry, schedule, costs, ...) of a construction project. For updating, the as-built state has to be acquired repeatedly and compared to the as-planned state. In the approach presented here, a 3D representation of the as-built state is calculated from photogrammetric images using multi-view stereo reconstruction. On construction sites one has to cope with several difficulties like security aspects, limited accessibility, occlusions or construction activity. Different acquisition strategies and techniques, namely (i) terrestrial acquisition with a hand-held camera, (ii) aerial acquisition using a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and (iii) acquisition using a fixed stereo camera pair at the boom of the crane, are tested on three test sites. They are assessed considering the special needs for the monitoring tasks and limitations on construction sites. The three scenarios are evaluated based on the ability of automation, the required effort for acquisition, the necessary equipment and its maintaining, disturbance of the construction works, and on the accuracy and completeness of the resulting point clouds. Based on the experiences during the test cases the following conclusions can be drawn: Terrestrial acquisition has the lowest requirements on the device setup but lacks on automation and coverage. The crane camera shows the lowest flexibility but the highest grade of automation. The UAV approach can provide the best coverage by combining nadir and oblique views, but can be limited by obstacles and security aspects. The accuracy of the point clouds is evaluated based on plane fitting of selected building parts. The RMS errors of the fitted parts range from 1 to a few cm for the UAV and the hand-held scenario. First results show that the crane camera approach has the potential to reach the same accuracy level.
27 citations
Cites background from "Exploratory Study of Potential Appl..."
...(Irizarry and Costa, 2016) conduct a study on the usage of UAV images in construction site environment and asked the project personal how the information can be used, whereby overall logistics and project progress, project documentation, and safety and job-site logistic issues are addressed....
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References
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TL;DR: A novel control law based on computer vision for quasi-stationary flights above a planar target is presented, which uses the homography matrix computed from the information obtained from the vision system.
427 citations
"Exploratory Study of Potential Appl..." refers background in this paper
...2004), avalanche control (McCormack and Trepanier 2008), aerial assessment of road surface condition (Zhang and Elaksher 2012), bridge inspection (Metni and Hamel 2007; Morgenthal and Hallermann 2014), and safety inspection on jobsites (Irizarry et al....
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Book•
01 Sep 2004
TL;DR: The roots of all Aviation, Cold War, Hot Missions, and Unmanned UAVs Today: A Snapshot future history are explored.
Abstract: Introduction Birth of a Concept The Concept Takes Flight But For One Dissenting Vote Technical Challenge No. 2: Remote Control United Kingdom The Roots of All Aviation Reginald Denny Delbert Fahrney Cold War, Hot Missions Vietnam: The Coming of Age Israel Endeavoring to Endure Unfueled and Unmanned UAVs Today: A SnapshotFuture History Appendix A: Significant Dates in Unmanned Aviation Appendix B: Notable Personalities in Unmanned Aviation Appendix C: Notable Unmanned Aircraft Bibliography
225 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the application of UAVs for visual inspection and damage detection on civil structures is discussed and the properties of such flight systems, the factors influencing their movements and the resulting photo quality is discussed.
Abstract: This paper discusses the application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for visual inspection and damage detection on civil structures. The quality of photos and videos taken by using such airborne vehicles is strongly influenced by numerous parameters such as lighting conditions, distance to the object and vehicle motion induced by environmental effects. Whilst such devices feature highly sophisticated sensors and control algorithms, specifically the effects of fluctuating wind speeds and directions affect the vehicle motion. The nature of vehicle movements during photo and video acquisition in turn affect the quality of the data and hence the degree to which damages can be identified. This paper discusses the properties of such flight systems, the factors influencing their movements and the resulting photo quality. Based on the processed data logged by the high precision sensors on the UAV the influences are studied and a method is shown by which the damage assessment quality may be quantified.
219 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this study, a small-scale aerial drone was used as a tool for exploring potential benefits to safety managers within the construction jobsite and recommendations for the required features of an Ideal Safety Inspection Drone were led.
Abstract: SUMMARY: The construction industry lags behind many others in the rate of adoption of cutting edge technologies In the area of safety management this is more so Many advances in information technology could provide great benefits to this important aspect of construction operations Innovative use of these tools could result in safer jobsites This paper discusses initial application of drone technology in the construction industry In this study, a small-scale aerial drone was used as a tool for exploring potential benefits to safety managers within the construction jobsite This drone is an aerial quadricopter that can be piloted remotely using a smart phone, tablet device or a computer Since the drone is equipped with video cameras, it can provide safety managers with fast access to images as well as real time videos from a range of locations around the jobsite An expert analysis (heuristic evaluation) as well as a user participation analysis were performed on said quadricopter to determine the features of an ideal safety inspection drone The heuristic evaluation uncovered some of the user interface problems of the drone interface considering the context of the safety inspection The user participation evaluation was performed following a simulated task of counting the number of hardhats viewed through the display of a mobile device in the controlled environment of the lab Considering the task and the controlled variables, this experimental approach revealed that using the drone together with a large-size interface (eg iPad) would be as accurate as having the safety manager with plain view of the jobsite The results of these two evaluations together with previous experience of the authors in the area of safety inspection and drone technology led to recommendations for the required features of an Ideal Safety Inspection Drone Autonomous navigation, vocal interaction, high-resolution cameras, and collaborative user-interface environment are some examples of those features This innovative application of the aerial drone has the potential to improve construction practices and in this case facilitate jobsite safety inspections
205 citations
"Exploratory Study of Potential Appl..." refers background in this paper
...2004), avalanche control (McCormack and Trepanier 2008), aerial assessment of road surface condition (Zhang and Elaksher 2012), bridge inspection (Metni and Hamel 2007; Morgenthal and Hallermann 2014), and safety inspection on jobsites (Irizarry et al. 2012)....
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06 Mar 2004
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the vision-based control of a small UAV following a road, using only the vision measurements and onboard inertial sensors, using a control strategy stabilizing the aircraft and following the road.
Abstract: This paper describes the vision-based control of a small autonomous aircraft following a road. The computer vision system detects natural features of the scene and tracks the roadway in order to determine relative yaw and lateral displacement between the aircraft and the road. Using only the vision measurements and onboard inertial sensors, a control strategy stabilizes the aircraft and follows the road. The road detection and aircraft control strategies have been verified by hardware in the loop (HIL) simulations over long stretches (several kilometers) of straight roads and in conditions of up to 5 m/s of prevailing wind. Hardware experiments have also been conducted using a modified radio-controlled aircraft. Successful road following was demonstrated over an airfield runway under variable lighting and wind conditions. The development of vision-based control strategies for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as the ones presented here, enables complex autonomous missions in environments where typical navigation sensor like GPS are unavailable.
175 citations