Materials and Construction Research Division

Construction Metrology and Automation Group 

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Description The Construction Metrology and Automation Group conducts laboratory, field, and analytical research in construction metrology and automation, which includes real-time spatial metrology  in unstructured applications such as construction sites.  The Group is involved in fundamental research and development of position/orientation tracking systems, sensor interface protocols for construction data telemetry and construction site simulation. Current Research Construction automation research is focused on using information technologies to make construction activities more productive and of higher quality. Fundamental to this approach is closing the information loop. "Closing the loop" means gathering the relevant information (construction plans, site measurements, schedule changes), maintaining coherent models of what has been built versus the original design (in a dynamic database), and making that information available, in real-time, to the people and machines doing the building. An example of this would be a "smart hardhat" that could display to a worker, the desired location for a girder, with an overlay on his field of view, and then signal (perhaps with a color change) when the girder was correctly placed. Fundamental to this approach is improving and automating construction-site metrology. Real-time measurement is the foundation for feedback and automation. Current metrology research includes the development of a real-time, non-line-of-sight surveying system that can "see through walls," and the use of GPS satellite signals for precise, relative position measurements in open environments. Other projects include the development of a National Construction Automation Test Bed for testing automation techniques, standards, and software; the development of representation standards for construction machinery and components; and the development of standards for wireless data telemetry.

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