Digital delivery across integrated infrastructure and manufacturing systems

This ICASE project proposes impact and feasibility study of automated construction delivery, in particular investigating changes in design, planning and supply practices.

The aim is to investigate possible benefits and identifiable limitations that automation of construction processes has on the quality, efficiency, safety and predictability of work in infrastructure delivery.

Automation of construction has an impact on design, planning, surveying, estimating, temporary works, project management and quality control. In some cases it delivers substantial savings to the stakeholders, while in some others, it requires more resources or increases risk. It is hoped that the study will identify a roadmap for future automation and suggest system-level approach to improving efficiency in infrastructure delivery.

One of primary technical objectives of the study is to parametrise construction site and identify a standard framework for digital control of construction activities as well as use of smart machinery to deliver specific work packages, in conjunction with other machinery and human operators present on site. The framework will draw from a feasibility study of conceptual architectures for automated delivery (from surveying to assembly) and attempt to build a coherent, complete proposal of the operations in the construction site could be improved.

The aim is to identify activities which are the most limited by existing practices and historical reasons and propose changes to remove said boundaries. It is hoped that clear benefits in terms of time and cost can be demonstrated for the same quality of work, or that quality, safety and environmental impact could be optimised without detriment to cost and time of delivery if automated systems are implemented.

The framework will be compared to existing state-of-the-art approach, but also expand into abstract study of future construction sites and new opportunities unlocked by higher degree of digitisation, especially in terms of work precision improvements, delivery time reduction and estimate accuracy.

The study will draw from literature review, historical data, site visits, interviews and analysis of past and ongoing projects as well as develop abstract, yet practical case studies of applying the findings in delivery of novel infrastructure such as Hyperloop. Novel infrastructure is not subject to the same constraints as existing infrastructure with well-established practices which promises an opportunity for building a complete case with radically innovative approach.