Bilal Kaddouh from the University of Leeds shows how robots are being to be widely adopted by construction and are beginning to make their presence felt on site. His presentation covers autonomous vehicles & drones. Presented on 8th March 2018 at the COMIT Community Day in London, hosted by Bentley Systems.

1. Bilal Kaddouh

2. Robots In Construction
Dr Bilal Kaddouh
Research Fellow
School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering

3. • Value of using Robots in
construction
• Safer workplace and reduced risk on
the safety of the workforce
• Cost reduction
• More efficient operation
• Allow more accurate scheduling and
planning
• Allow computerized and automated
site management
• Guaranteed reproducible quality
• Better orchestration between
machineries
• Faster operation

4. • Automated Robots in Construction

21. • Remote Controlled Machinery

28. • UAVs for Progress Monitoring

36. • UAVs for Inspection

42. Inspection Drone
• Installation of a visual inspection
system based on ZED camera and
Jetson TX1 embedded system.
• The system has the ability to detect
crack and potholes and build a 3D
model of the detected anomaly in
real-time.
• Allows inspections of high structures.
• The drone has the ability to detect
defects as part of an autonomous
infrastructure maintenance
operation.
ZED stereo
camera
Jetson TX1
Embedded
system

46. Crack!

49. Deployment of ground
inspection robot
• Rapid deployment of ground rover
• Designed for rover deployment and
retrieval
• Allows inspection for long periods of
time
• Provides a detailed inspection platform

50. Deployment of ground inspection robot

51. • UAVs for Site Management

54. Autonomous System for
Earth-Moving Sites
• A scale mock-up solution where
earthmoving trucks are fully guided by
a coordinating fleet of UAVs.
• The trucks follow simple operations
with no obstacle avoidance sensors
and therefore receive all the
instructions from the UAVs who
continuously monitor their position.

55. Autonomous System for
Earth-Moving Sites
• The UAVs guide several trucks
simultaneously and safely navigate
them through detected obstacles
including other trucks.
• The UAVs receive requests from
various parts of the site for more
earthmoving trucks who are then
directed to these areas on demand.

56. ZED
stereo
camera
Jetson TX1
Embedded
system
Drone with Image Recognition
and Decision Making
Trucks
Obstacle

57. Autonomous System for Earth-Moving Sites

58. Autonomous System for Earth-Moving Sites

59. • UAVs for Maintenance

61. 3D Printing Drone
• Installation of a 3D printer on a
drone.
• Shows potential for installation of
non-standard manipulators on
drones.
• The drone has the ability to fill-up
holes as part of an autonomous
infrastructure maintenance
operation.

62. 3D Printing Drone

63. 3D Printing Drone
• Installation of tracks for ground
manoeuvring.
• Installation of asphalt extruder.
• The drone now has the ability to fly
and drive autonomously.
• Scan and fill-up cracks and holes as
part of an autonomous infrastructure
maintenance operation.

64. • Issues with using Robots
in construction
• Workforce training
• High capital costs
• High transfer costs
• Technology limitations
• Reliance on machine manufacturers
• Loss of craftsmanship
• Social acceptance and workforce
perspective
• Big data and information management
• Legislation, Regulations and Rules !