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Paper: HPT 27
INTEGRATING AUTOMATION INTO CONSTRUCTION TO
ACHIEVE PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS
DAVID W COBB
David Cobb Associates, Walnut Tree Cottage, Aldbury, Herts, UK, HP23 5SL,
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
The ultimate performance of structures heavily depends on the the quality of the supply chain and
added value processes gone before. This paper is not about ‘championing’ the merits of a niche, but
emerging, sector of innovation whose time approaches with the inexorable march of technology. It
presents new case studies and hard data - mostly quantitative –and uses market research techniques
that present the real state of current thinking and applications in this area. The power of the internet
will be harnessed to examine future changes in perceptions of automation and its usage.
End-users rightly demand better value that has to be delivered by achieving higher productivity levels
at lower cost whilst not sacrificing quality or safety aspects. This is where automation-enhancement
has a role to play. Performance of structures can be improved by removing/reducing human error,
which frequently arises from on-site fatigue, itself a legacy of the construction environment. Savings
of nearly 15% , achievable in only 5 years, for a typical building with the introduction of automation
concepts will be described.
Many CIB Task Groups are searching for acceptable solutions to performance-based design solutions,
performance-based tendering and performance guidelines generally. They will not find the word
‘automation’ anywhere on the CIB technology database just now – but in five years time this will
surely have changed. Then there will be numerous conference papers providing further compelling
evidence for the introduction of automation technologies to improve the comfort and welfare of the
end-user.
KEYWORDS:
Automation; life cycles; buildings; market research; economics.
INTRODUCTION
In his keynote speech at last year’s ‘Technology Watch’ conference in Brussels CIB’s President John
Duncan reminded delegates not to be dismissive of technical innovation levels in the construction
industry. Delegates should not allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the faster, higher-profile
advances in sectors such as information technology and biotechnology. However, when developing
performance-based codes, obstacles to the application of construction innovations include the costly
development and verification phases.
If this is a problem for existing technologies looking for new markets what hope then is there for new
products and processes in existing or new markets? The introduction of automation, and even
robotics, into the construction life cycle to enhance performance needs careful management of risks
and the commercial imperative needs to be understood by the client or his professional adviser early
on in the design process. The USA’s Civil Engineering Research Foundation (CERF) President
Harvey Bernstein’s promulgation that there should be an establishment of a ‘World Federation of
Technical Assessment Organisations’ (WFTAO) seems to offer one way of managing the risks for
non-standard product development. This increases visibility of the results and should help emerging
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from what he describes as innovation’s ‘Valley of Death’ where commercialisation is one economic
hurdle too far towards the marketplace (Bernstein, 2000).
Nearly 10 years ago, Hasagawa observed the potential importance of automation and robotics in
construction and problems facing the industry and cautioned delegates that there was some way to go
for these niche disciplines to achieve widespread acceptance (Hasegawa, 1991). More recently, in
1993, the Commission of the European Communities commissioned a strategic study (SECTEUR
report) on the construction sector (Atkins, 1993). The report advocated a shift in construction output
away from high-cost maintenance activities to more efficient new-build activities. However, as
Maunsell’s Chief Executive Peter Head noted at the ‘Technology Watch’ conference mentioned
above, the issue of performance cannot be ‘swept under the carpet’ as it permeates every facet of the
construction life cycle.
The opinion of the worldwide building industry on the role of automation and robotics was canvassed
in 1998 leading to the preparation of a document usually referred to as the “ROBOBUILD” report
(Cobb, 1998). The proposition to be tested was that the effect of introducing automation and robotics
into the life cycles of buildings could reduce costs without compromising on the quality and safety
aspects. Some key findings from this report are presented later on in this paper.
The factors below have been cited as being necessary to ensure an effective improvement in [UK]
construction quality (DOE, 1995). Only a selection is shown.
FACTORS AUTOMATION OBSERVATIONS
• Whole team approach at the earliest Teams should be aware of automation
opportunity should input into quality decisions ‘toolboxes’ for assembly processes.
• Quality management standards are a Analysis of life cycle operations should
prerequisite to systematic identification of consider incorporating automation
quality issues technologies.
• A co-ordinated strategy in educational and Tertiary education and CPD modules could
vocational processes is required. include automation concepts.
Performance-enhancement in buildings can be realised either by the introduction of discrete
automation activities which may not be intrinsically linked together but could well form part of a
‘total building performance’ concept (Hartkopf and Loftness 1999). Moreover, the fragmented nature
of the construction industry offers both opportunities and barriers to the introduction of automation.
The opportunity lies in sub-optimising value-added processes before passing the output from one
activity on to the next stage in the assembly process. This sub-optimisation may be gained through
precise examination of the tasks and activities that contribute to the output to ascertain where the
introduction of automation could lead to greater productivity, improved quality, lower costs, safer
working practices etc. Barriers include investment risks and this is where the public sector can live
up to its, often publicised, title in being the ‘best practice’ client.
AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES
Before confusion creeps in – clarification on terminology used in this area is needed as many have
sought to distinguish where ‘automation’ ends and ‘robotics’ begins. Krom, in his 1997 thesis on
robotics in the construction industry (Krom, 1997), describes four ‘phases’ relating to the
development of construction robotics from simple adaptation of existing equipment (phase 1) to fully-
integrated designing for robotic construction (phase 4). Indeed there are numerous definitions of
“what is a robot?”
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The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) define a robot as being ‘a machine which can be
programmed to perform tasks which involve manipulative and in some cases locomotive actions under
automatic control’. However, most devices referred to as ‘robots’ are, to varying degrees,
autonomous and have an element of human control during operations. Henceforth, in this paper, all
references to ‘automation and robotics’ will simply be called ‘automation’.
Increasing Automation (after Krom, 1997)
Robot Function Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4
• protecting
• clearing and preparing robot excavation
• transporting and lifting robot dumpers & AGV’s Japanese self-
concrete climbing building
placement systems
• forming: cutting, concrete screeders grinders &
shaping and fitting concrete
screeders
• treatment: drilling and
boring
• placing: laying and concrete pouring re-bar placement, robot masonry Japanese self-
applying brick & board tile setting climbing building
handling coating systems
• making good and
repairing
• cleaning up
• other functions inspection
Improving system performance through the use of automation will need to use integrated ‘toolboxes’
that themselves are the product of niche R&D and are not exclusively sector-specific. Warszawski
believes that these ‘toolboxes’ can be classified into a shortlist of principal types such as those below
(Warszawski, 1990):
Automation Technology
‘Toolbox’ Type Description and Automation Observations
• mobility and navigation Provide the flexibility for multi-tasking usually by using wheels, legs or
tracks. Navigation effected by lasers, rangefinders and GPS systems.
• manipulators The manipulator is itself only a mechanism to orient the end device – the
‘end effector’. Several degrees of freedom possible.
• end-effectors End effectors can undertake a range of tasks utilising the same
manipulator such as suction caps, hydraulic percussion etc.
• material feeding The supply of water, sand, air or some other medium continuously to the
end-effector to keep the operation going.
• sensing and control Sensors and vision systems are deployed for the immediate environment
where the task at hand is being executed.
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FEEDBACK THROUGH MARKET RESEARCH
ROBOBUILD’s (Cobb, 1998) 12-page Australia excluding
market research questionnaire (MRQ) Japan – 6% Japan - 8%
offered a range of open format, yes/no and North America -
Rest of
multiple choice-type questions whereby 6%
Europe
respondents were supplied with statements – 19%
to which they could express their level of
agreement or disagreement by marking a France -
number on a scale of 0-10. The questions 5% UK - 47%
were not designed to seek the highest
Germany - 8%
agreement scores as this MRQ did not
prejudge its own outcome.
Figure 1. Geographic distribution of respondents
Nearly one-half of respondents were at Chief Executive level or similar or had over 21 years
experience. In all, respondents came from 24 countries worldwide in the proportions as shown above
in figure 1. It is only possible in this paper to show a short selection of results.
An adaptation of this MRQ can now be visited and completed ‘online’ at the International Association
for Automation and Robotics in Construction’s (IAARC) website at http://www.iaarc.org. Figure 2
illustrates the online format. It is hoped to undertake a comparative exercise every three years to
examine how thinking and automation applications change over time with the inexorable march of
technology.
An MRQ question put to respondents asked them to score the level of importance when considering
introducing automation into buildings and structures. The results are shown below:
Ranking Order Mean score Comments
(rounded)
1. Productivity improvements 8.4
2. Improvement in quality and reliability 8.3 Whilst a ranking order
3. Improving safety 8.1 is given the responses
4. Improvement in working conditions 7.5 of 1-8 are all very
5. Savings on labour costs 7.3 strongly positive.
6. Standardisation of components 7.3
7. Overall whole-life cost savings 7.2
8. Simplifying operations 7.2
9. Age and shortage of workforce 5.6 (Japanese higher priority)
10. Only available option to use 4.2 Eg. nuclear decommissioning
Performance-enhancement may have a number of interpretations but items 2, 4, and 6 feature strongly
positive in the list above. Examples of these drivers in use are shown in the following section
Standardisation
According to common beliefs the main aim of standardisation is to facilitate trade, exchange and
technology transfer through (Szymañski,1996):
• enhanced product quality and reliability at a reasonable price
• improved health, safety and environmental protection, and reduction of waste
• greater compatibility and interoperability of goods and services
• simplification of improved usability
• reduction in the number of models, and thus reduction in costs
• increased distribution efficiency and ease of maintenance
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These sentiments are taken further by CIRIA who report the greatest benefits are gained when
standardisation and pre-assembly are used together (CIRIA, 1998). Currently there are no ISO
standards explicitly for construction robotics – a point being addressed in a current ISO initiative.
Economics
The building’s construction
process is the product of every
link in the supply chains and
the inherent inefficiencies in
all the elemental outputs
therein. In addition, a
structures’ performance will
only be as good as the quality
of structural, services and
fitting-out activities.
Later-on the operational
aspects of inspection
maintenance and repair can
drive-up whole life costs-in-
use. Systematic docu-
mentation tracking the life of a
building will help the
diagnosis of faults (Clift,
1995). These can form the
basis for evaluation of the part
automation can make in
lowering costs, increasing
quality etc. for every step in
the supply chain including
Figure 2. Extract from the ‘online’ questionnaire. prefabrication and final
assembly.
The MRQ asked respondents to score achievable reductions in
construction with the application of automation:
Results from the original MRQ process yielded the following potential savings.
Typical Mean % Potential average
average reduction in 5 years savings
Element [4] current costs with the application (%)
(%) of automation
1. Wall finishes 2.5 19.9 0.5
2. Floor finishes 3.5 18.6 0.65
3. External envelope 16.5 17.4 2.87
4. Frame 5.5 17.1 0.94
5. Services 34 16.3 5.54
6. Ceiling finishes 2.5 15.7 0.39
7. Upper floors 2.5 14.6 0.37
8. Roof 5 12.7 0.64
9. Prelims, fees, site costs etc. 7.5 12.0 0.90
10. Substructure 7 12.0 0.84
11. Internal divisions 9 11.8 1.06
Total average saving possible in
5 years for a complete structure 14.70%
with the introduction of automation
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The MRQ also asked respondents to score a list of 50 construction activities for ‘Ease of Automation’
and ‘Cost Saving Potential’. The score shown is a product of these two:
RANK ‘Top 10’ Construction Activities SCORE
(Max 100)
1 timber prefabrication off-site 50
2 glazing – cleaning operations 49
3 Reinforcement - design of layout and pre-assembly techniques 45
4 masonry prefabrication of panels off-site 43
5 steelwork assembly methods 43
6 flooring and screeding etc. 42
7 concrete prefabrication off-site and transportation, final assembly 40
8 steel cutting, welding on site 38
9 intelligent buildings & structures using sensor technologies 38
10 surface coatings generally - including fire protection 38
The need for stakeholders to include, at the conceptual part of a project, an automation ‘overlay’ in
their discussions may well raise the possibilities of end-users accepting an automated cleaning,
inspection system incorporated into the building’s primary layout arrangements. There is no ‘quick
fix’ to the introduction of automation into buildings - it represents a longer-term commitment, which
in itself points back to the need for universities to receive seedcorn funding, enhanced with
development funding as appropriate from public sector sources.
EXAMPLES OF AUTOMATION IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY
So where are the opportunities for introducing automation? Any repetitive construction or
maintenance task should in theory be ideal for increasing levels of automation. Wong estimates that
there are around 4,500 residential high-rise blocks in excess of 12 storeys height in the UK (Wong,
1997).
The major cause (52%) of construction deaths,
according to the UK’s Health & Safety
Executive, are people falling from height (HSE,
1995). A façade’s generally ‘repetitive’
environment offers clear advantages for
robotisation of hazardous processes.
Window cleaning is one area that has been
receiving much attention in recent years. Most
notably the UK OCS groups ‘Automated
Robotic Cleaning of Windows’ (ARCOW)
system, figure 3, which relies on mullion design
being incorporated very early on in a new
building concept or, as has been the case in
Figure 3. ARCOW in action London in recent years, refurbishment of bomb-
damaged buildings.
A structure’s façade geometry enables accurate economic benchmarking data. Indeed, ARCOW’s
economic projections suggest that for a typical 60-storey building the payback period would be just 4
years.
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For all building categories there exists a range of
performance-related problems many of which
involve working at height and the need for NDT
methods to check fixings and corrosion etc. The
sums of money required are vast with, for example,
London’s Lewisham Authority who, in 1994/95
identified the need for an additional £40m to address
problems that have a ‘working at height’ component
alone.
Thus anything that can be done to drive down the
costs of assessment and remedial work using
automation techniques will be welcomed by housing
authorities across the UK. Systems such as System
BIBER shown in figure 4., can make light work of
removal of loose or poor rendering (Schulz, 1998) by
achieving up to 400m2/hr productivity.
Figure 4. System BIBER removing roughcast
INTEGRATED SYSTEM APPROACH
Manufactured Housing in Japan
The housing sector is a classic example where predicted
demands for both quality and quantity indicate that
‘factory’ methods will be essential in the future,
implying a major change in methods and an acceptance
of prefabrication technology. The leading Japanese
housebuilders – Misawa Homes, Daiwa House, National
House, Sekisui House and Sekisui Chemicals – invested
heavily in factory production of houses in the mid
1990’s. Figures 5 and 6 illustrate the assembly process
at Sekisui Heim. Figure 5 Assembly of wall and ceiling
(courtesy Sekisui Heim)
Of the 1.23 million total number of new Japanese
housing starts in 1999 over 21% were prefabricated
houses and the ‘big 5’ listed above accounted for
two-thirds of these (Sekisui, 2000) The largest
produces around half the total UK’s annual output!
They are able to maintain a high level of control
along the supply chain from basic materials to site
assembly and building maintenance operations. Up
to 90% of these units are prefabricated in factories
but additional flexibility can be offered with on-
site production technologies to meet the needs of a
Figure 6. Completed module ready for windows differentiated housing market.
and internal fittings. (courtesy Sekisui Heim)
However, Europe does not have the capacity or even the capability at present to solve a fast growing
need for affordable, high quality housing, indeed the goals of boosting productivity in safe and
comfortable working conditions, improving quality, building performance and reducing costs are
common to all countries. To this end a major project under the global ‘Intelligent Manufacturing
Systems’ (IMS, 2000) programme (IMS) will play an important role in addressing these needs.
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EU “FutureHome” Project
The IMS organisation enables the global linking of research teams, and project ‘IF7’ studies
manufacturing processes for housing construction, ranging in scale from domestic housing (the main
focus of the European project, FutureHome), to high-rise apartment buildings (the focus of a parallel
Japanese project). The Japanese project has developed a number of different parallel production
method assembly techniques for large-scale structures that claim to achieve a 70% reduction in labour
costs, 20% reduction in material costs that yield an overall saving of 50% (Takada, 2000)
IF7 is organised into three major interrelated studies, all linked to the concept of an ‘innovative and
intelligent field factory’. In this context, the term “field factory” refers to an on-site facility for the
production of principal components at the installation site. The field factory includes “site plants” to
produce modules incorporating partially-assembled components brought in from off-site, and
produces volumetric assemblies that would not otherwise be transportable.
The IF7 research programme addresses three related engineering research areas:
• Design and assembly methods for large-scale pre-fabricated construction, including study of the
field factory concept and its relationship to site and factory operations.
• Fundamental technologies required for the field factory: Joining systems for automated
assembly of prefabricated structures; heavy object transport technology, human-robot
coordination systems, and 3-D positioning systems.
• Autonomous agents (cyber agents) for production information management, decision-making
support systems, simulation systems, production information collection systems, and other I.T.
systems involving the active use of agents.
At the time of writing this paper the FutureHome project had reached its mid-way point in its 3-year
life. With 15 partners and 55 man-years of resource available the early part of the project involved
clearer identification of the problems, demand and options to achieve the goals above. The oral
presentation will provide the very latest news on the project’s progress. However, the project’s focus
is now centering around a cluster approach to solving problems in the following areas whilst ensuring
an IT infrastructure is maintained to provide a coherent, flexible and internationally-acceptable
housing system. (FutureHome, 2000a):
• Building System – including ‘field factory’ concept; housing demand matrices; economic
appraisals and earthquake performance
• Connections – including control algorithms for Cartesian crane; smart positioning and sealing
systems; cyber agents for integrated site safety system; seismic mechanisms
• IT Infrastructure – virtual design environments with object-oriented database integration;
virtual reality of construction processes; VR linkages to ‘intelligent building’ projects and
cyber-agents
• Logistic delivery system – IT frameworks and cyber agents; IDEF0 functional modelling of on-
site and off-site production
High reliance upon automation and IT will allow faster tendering procedures and reduce time to
market. FutureHome will support the design tools and evolving standards for data exchange in this
sector, including concurrent engineering methods and electronic trading. It will succeed in breaking
down artificial divisions between specialist companies in the construction industry, as well as
harnessing the expertise from the mechanical and electrical engineering sectors.
An information website (FutureHome, 2000b) is available for parties outside the project, linked to an
Economic Interest Group intended for potential suppliers and other interested industrial parties. This
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group will ensure that FutureHome delivers the right products for marketing, and is itself backed up
by a Commercial Exploitation Group formed from the industrial partners within the project.
CONCLUSIONS
The performance of buildings in service will reflect the quality of workmanship that has gone into the
delivery of components along the supply chain. By using factory-based production technology, it is
possible to solve the three major problems and design buildings with high quality and high
performance. Three major problems can be overcome:
• Weather influences motivation and physical comfort on site – quite apart from the adverse
affect on construction materials and integrity of assembly processes such as connections.
• Excessive reliance on individual tradesmen’s skill. It is the luck of the draw that produces a
quality product.
• Lack of confidence in the quality of the supply chain. The builder has less motivation to
inspect and ensure the best components and materials are used..
The Japanese fabricated housing market has demonstrated that over 80% of construction can be
completed in controlled factory conditions. Integrity of key connections is assured. In the factory
tasks are broken down to clear responsibility levels and automation used wherever possible to reduce
fatigue and boost productivity. Quality control of the supply chain and accreditation along it helps to
ensure delivery of the best possible end-product.
Other points for consideration by the building industry could include the following:
• Organisations should appoint a member of staff to maintain a “watching brief” on
developments in automation - by visiting the International Association for Automation and
Robotics in Construction’s (IAARC) web site would be one obvious route
(http://www.iaarc.org).
• Cross-sectoral networking groups need to be encouraged - all with a view to changing the
climate in this area. Other industrial sectors should be invited to participate in networking
meetings.
• New skills and ways of thinking need to be introduced into tertiary educational courses and by
means of continuing professional development. Only then will professionals be able to
consider how performance-enhancement can be achieved by integrating automation concepts
into project life cycles.
• In the ROBOBUILD report (Cobb, 1998) productivity, reliability, quality and safety were
strongly supported as being the most important factors when considering introducing
automation into buildings and structures - these objectives should feature in the design process
when the introduction of automation is being considered.
• The consensus view on what are achievable reductions with the application of automation
makes a compelling case for its introduction. Noting that these figures are the mean percentage
reductions from 100 worldwide respondents and do not represent any single expert ‘talking-up’
the subject. Accepting that this 14.7% would take 5 years to realise - this would be a
significant goal for the industry to achieve – if risks can be shared!
• There was strong support, amongst the UK respondents for a national test demonstration
facility. This would enable prototypes to be demonstrated in a low-risk way outside of a
contractual environment and at full-scale.-potential sites for this should be investigated.
• Finally, governments exercise the hand of moderator by regulating construction processes. The
contractor becomes more competitive by taking the initiative himself but in doing so exposes
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himself to greater risks. Major contractors were strongly viewed as being the principal ‘agents
for change’ followed by specialist sub-contractors and plant manufacturers. Therefore who
might get the process going? - In reality it will most likely be the synthesis of many
stakeholders along with government intervention and academe’s expertise. The MRQ has
shown that there are perceived benefits to be gained from the introduction of automation but
apportioning the risks will be needed to realise them. Clearly the belief is that the end-users in
the construction process should bring forward innovations in this area.
The day draws closer when, with the continued march of technology and lowering of barriers to
developments in this area, further adoption of automation concepts will help to deliver enhanced
performance of structures. It will achieve this with improvements in productivity, efficiencies,
quality, durability, safety etc. that the industry continually strives so hard to achieve.
However, this progress will only come through a co-ordinated programme to increase awareness
across the industry. Research such as the EU-sponsored ‘FutureHome’ project and an EU thematic
network proposal ‘MANUHOUSE’ will go some way towards filling this awareness gap. The very
latest news on these initiatives will be presented at the conference.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to express his gratitude to the Institution of Civil Engineers, Royal Academy of
Engineering and the European Commission for their support in enabling him to present this paper.
REFERENCES
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