Building 4.0 - Digitalization of the construction site
Efficiency and productivity increase of construction processes through networking and communication of mobile machines
The digitalization and networking of construction sites interlocks the construction industry with a current annual turnover of approx. 107 billion euros, telecommunications with a turnover of approx. 60 billion euros and construction and building material machines with a turnover of approx. 14 billion euros. The establishment of smart products and services for tapping efficiency potentials and developing innovative business fields is a central field of action in the technological leadership of Industry 4.0.
The term Industry 4.0 encompasses the transition from a classic value chain to dynamic value creation networks with the help of communication, networking and digital data management.
Construction processes and the associated construction site processes differ fundamentally from the conditions of industrial goods production. In a complex, spatially and temporally changing environment, a large number of individual contractors operate on a division of labor basis, which in turn are characterized by a diverse and inhomogeneous use of technology. The unique character of construction projects, the strong fragmentation of the construction industry and the lack of uniform interfaces for the documentation and coordination of today's construction process mean that great efficiency and quality potentials remain untapped.
Against this background, the "Building 4.0" project addresses the research and development focus "Development of smart products for use in production (machines and systems)" of the "InKoWe" announcement and thus makes an important contribution to the objective of the announcement and the underlying programme in the field of innovations for tomorrow's production and work.
The research project therefore aims at researching and developing innovative, powerful and flexible technologies for a digital construction site in order to support medium-sized industry in the implementation of the Industry 4.0 guiding principle on the construction site. The project partners link existing approaches from BIM modelling and develop the administration shells and assets of the network participants of a construction site necessary for networking. It forms the basis for cross-company collaboration. For the integration of humans into the changing construction site technology, the consortium develops suitable assistance concepts for working machines and develops automation-oriented drive technologies.
Tracking and Tracing
If the construction site processes are to be digitized in order to apply them to the 4.0 approach, then all material flows, machine movements and equipment stocks on the construction site are to be recorded. This should be done via tracking and tracing (TaT) of the objects. Here the value of the objects is clustered, i.e. more complex techniques can be used for expensive objects. Cheap items must be traceable with low-cost technology. From barcodes to the Internet of Things (IoT), all possible techniques are considered and evaluated. Significant examples are implemented in demonstrators.
Simulation of construction processes
Process simulation is a powerful tool for describing and evaluating construction processes. Numerous research projects of the chair have proven this. The project will show how macro simulation can be used to design the arrangement of construction processes from the existing constraints and dependencies on a construction site in order to arrive at construction time scheduling or to predict real construction times. The microsimulation can be used to accompany individual construction processes and provide recommendations for the next steps.
Implementation of BIMsite
The BIM describes statically the building object and is to be extended in the project to the BIMsite under the aspect of the machine and equipment need. This means that the required machine and device requirements with further descriptions for the construction process are to be attached to the construction objects for information purposes. This has not yet been implemented in practice.
Construction site management system
The drivers have to be taken to the digitized construction site world. This means that meaningful data can and should be made available to him on demand and selectively during his work. This is to be done in the subproject construction site control system via mixed reality through data glasses. On the other hand, it should be considered, similar to the stationary industry, what a digital construction site twin would have to look like in order to record the construction site sequences synchronously and mirror them at the target state in order to be able to detect disturbance variables at an early stage.