Khoury, H M (2009) Context-aware information access and retrieval for rapid on-site decision making in construction, inspection and maintenance of constructed facilities. PhD thesis, University of Michigan, USA.
Abstract
The spatial expanse and the dynamic and information intensive nature of typical engineering projects, in particular construction projects, require mobile users (engineers, managers, inspectors etc.) to have rapid and real-time access to a wealth of project information. However, during the course of their normal activities, field personnel typically spend a significant amount of time in manually accessing relevant information, thereby amounting to lost productivity and increased costs. In an effort to remedy this situation, this dissertation takes the first steps and presents research that investigated methods for high-precision identification and automated retrieval of contextual information in mobile construction engineering applications. The primary contribution of the presented work is the design and implementation of a dynamic user-viewpoint tracking scheme in which mobile users' spatial context is defined not only by their position but also by their Three Degree-of-Freedom (3DOF) head orientation (i.e. line of sight). This allows the identification of objects and artifacts visible in a mobile user's field of view with much higher accuracy than was possible by tracking position alone. Within this scheme, location-aware computing and head orientation sensing technologies were integrated. For outdoor applications, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and magnetic orientation tracker were used to track a user's dynamic viewpoint. For indoor applications, this research explored the applicability of wireless technologies, namely Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Ultra-Wide Band (UWB), and Indoor GPS for dynamic user position tracking in situations where GPS is unavailable. The same orientation device was used indoors. Additionally, this research evaluated the capability of interoperable product models and project databases, such as the Computer Integrated Manufacturing for steel structures (CIMsteel) Integration Standards (CIS/2) product model and Microsoft Access databases for automated context-aware information access and retrieval. The developed methods and the components of the proposed context-sensing information retrieval methodology have been validated through several experiments conducted at the University of Michigan, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Disaster City urban search and rescue testbed in Texas.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Kamat, V R |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | accuracy; personnel; standards; steel structures; computing; construction engineering; decision making; information retrieval; inspection; integration; manufacturing; productivity; construction project; experiment |
| Index terms: | product model, personnel, manager, experiment, accuracy, artifact, computing, construction project, decision-making, methodology, integration, inspection, database, productivity, engineer, construction engineering, steel structure, information retrieval, dissertation, implementation |
| Subjects: | research dissemination and communication, data collection methods, profession, practitioner, computing systems, modelling and simulation, contractual arrangements, engineering methods, research methods, specialized materials and systems, management, professional development, production management, decision analysis, sociology, organizational analysis, data management, quality assurance |
| Topics: | Procurement, Risk Management, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Quality Management, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Construction Materials, Information Management, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Human Resources, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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