Atherinis, D; Bakowski, B; Velcek, M and Moon, S (2018) Developing and laboratory testing a smart system for automated falsework inspection in construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 144(3): 04017119, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The procedure of falsework inspection has the potential for improvements in accuracy and time efficiency. The current process of inspection is often time-consuming and there is a potential for human error that could lead to undesirable outcomes. This paper presents an innovative smart system with the purpose of achieving an automation in falsework inspection. The system is basically a combination of radio frequency identification (RFID) with a virtual three-dimensional (3D) model that is represented by the AutoCAD 360 drawing viewer on a mobile device. Member identification is to be addressed by the RFID component, while the virtual model is expected to enable more accurate positional identification of members within the entire falsework configuration. A mock-up formwork structure was assembled in order to test this developed system. RFID was found to identify members significantly faster (5.6 s as an average) than by inspecting manually (33.2 s as an average) during 20 demonstrations. Simultaneously, higher inspection accuracy of 96.2% compared to 91.5% was achieved by inspecting manually. However, the smart technology option for component positioning did not have expected results and was less efficient than the currently practiced method. This shows that there is a potential in implementing one of the previous technologies while the other still requires further development before it would be applied to the inspection process. The primary contribution of the research lies in demonstrating the true value of the tangible smart system in an actual situation. In short, it enabled showing its effectiveness during the quantification, but still needs more work in its positioning.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | accuracy; automation; efficiency; falsework; formwork; inspection; laboratory test; quantitative methods; radio frequency identification; smart technology; virtual reality |
| Index terms: | efficiency, quantification, radio frequency identification, laboratory, automation, quantitative method, option, configuration, falsework, effectiveness, time efficiency, drawing, virtual reality, inspection, formwork, accuracy, testing |
| Subjects: | professional development, technical documentation, data analysis and analytics, automation and robotics, management, digital technology, measurement and scaling, virtual reality, building construction, decision analysis, construction methods, quality assurance, research management, systems engineering, professional practice, performance management |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Engineering Principles, Construction Technology, Information Management, Quality Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Risk Management, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here