NGI Goal: Revolutionary Applications
A Leap in Capabilities:
Automating the Construction Site
Partners:
NIST Arc-Seconds, Inc.
Carnegie Mellon University
Integrinautics, Inc.
Jacobus Technologies, Inc.
North Carolina State University
Trimble Navigation Ltd.
University of Maryland
Contact:
William Stone, BFRL
phone: (301) 975-6075
email: william.stone@nist.gov
Advanced networking technologies afford tremendous opportunities to trim construction time and reduce the need for costly rework. At the National Construction Automation Testbed, NIST and its partners are building the measurement and standards foundation so that: the status of a construction site can be assessed instantaneously; machinery can be operated remotely; and data flow seamlessly and are easily integrated, providing workers and managers with the information they need, when they need it.
Demo Abstract: TETRA (for Tetrahedral Robotic Apparatus) is a unique robotic crane. It is one of several advanced experimental technologies being tested at the new National Construction Automation Testbed, hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology through its National Advanced Manufacturing Testbed.
There, geographically distributed partners are developing the infrastructure that will enable modeling, simulation, and automation of dangerous or error-prone construction tasks; remote site-management capabilities; and up-to-the-moment access to all site-related information, from architectural designs to subcontractor schedules to the status of machinery. Emphasis will be on construction-site measurement capabilities--necessary precursors to automation--and technologies for gathering, exchanging, and analyzing information.
Critical enabling technologies include real-time, immersive computer graphics; wide-band wireless communications; global database management systems; "person-in-the-loop systems" (including head-up vehicle displays, hard-hat-mounted displays; and voice-activated database interrogators); global positioning satellites; ground-based "pseudo satellites"; fanning lasers; and non-line-of-sight surveying systems.
As demonstrated in live video and virtual reality simulations, the NIST-developed TETRA lends itself to automated or remote control. Its platform is remarkably stable and yet can be positioned at virtually any angle. On-board cameras and sensors wirelessly transmit position data to a ground station linked to an IP network.
The NCAT is now being used in conjunction with industry to develop wireless metrology and job-site communications standards that will bring the information technology revolution to the construction site. TETRA will be joined by other automated and semi-automated construction machines and metrology systems that will help the U.S. construction industry build a technological edge for the 21st century.
The NGI Difference: High-bandwidth communication capabilities are necessary to support the continuous, bi-directional flow of information between the job site and off-site operations, such as management, design, and materials and service planning. Full-motion, real-time video is required for remote teleoperation of equipment, as is continuously updated site-measurement information--from the orientation of a structural member to the precise, three-dimensional location of a crane load. High levels of security and high-quality, end-to-end network service also are essential to insuring next-generation levels of functionality, and--perhaps most important--job-site safety. Without NGI technology and capabilities, opportunities for delivering powerful, productivity-enhancing applications to the construction site will be limited.
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov
March 1999