An interdisciplinary Approach to Automated Performance Monitoring in the Architecture/ Engineering/ Construction & Facilities Management Industry

An interdisciplinary Approach to Automated Performance Monitoring in the Architecture/ Engineering/ Construction & Facilities Management Industry

Mani Golparvar-Fard, PhD

Abstract:

Early detection of performance deviations in Architecture/Engineering/Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) activities is critical to project management as it provides an opportunity to initiate proactive actions to minimize their impacts.  Despite the importance, current monitoring practice includes manual data collection, non-systematic reporting, and visually complex representations.  This talk addresses these challenges by introducing an interdisciplinary research approach to generation of D4AR – 4D augmented reality – models for automating and visualizing monitoring of sustainable built environments. These models assembled through superimposition of 4D (3D + time) point clouds generated from unordered photo collections and 4D Building Information Models, automatically visualize performance deviations and allow practitioners to intuitively observe problems, conduct various decision-making tasks, and minimize detrimental impacts of performance deviations in an augmented-reality environment rather than the real world which is time-consuming and costly. These models generate a new research paradigm by allowing researchers develop visual sensing techniques to automatically track productivity, safety, quality, and carbon footprint of operations. To this extent, the benefits and challenges of initiating and conducting this interdisciplinary project which integrates construction engineering and management, with computer graphics, computer vision, and machine learning are discussed in detail.  A set of recommendations and a roadmap for conducting future studies in this area, and creating cyber-physical systems for automation in the AEC/FM industry are presented.

Biography:

Dr. Mani Golparvar-Fard is an Assistant Professor in the Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as well as Myers-Lawson School of Construction. He is the founder and director of the Real-time and Automated Monitoring and Control (RAAMAC) Lab. The RAAMAC lab is a unique interdisciplinary facility that focuses on creating technologies to improve construction performance and minimize carbon footprint. The current research focuses on real-time tracking of construction equipment and personnel, automated 3D as-built modeling and visualization for energy analysis of existing building, and remote assessment of post-disaster critical physical infrastructure.

Dr. Golparvar-Fard is also the founder and the CEO of the Vision Construction Monitoring LLC startup company which facilitates transition of research to practice and provides interdisciplinary solutions for addressing performance monitoring in the AEC/FM industry.

 

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