Context-Aware Information Access for Rapid On-Site Decision Making in Construction, Maintenance, and Inspection of Civil Infrastructure Systems

该项目的目标是设计、实施、验证和演示一种新的、独立的、情景感知的信息技术(IT)，该技术将自动为施工人员、维护人员和侦察检查员提供准确、优先的情景信息，以便在施工、维护和检查已建设施期间做出关键的实时决策。研究目标将通过开发一种上下文感知框架来实现，该框架将使用GPS和无线定位技术的新组合，在任意室内/室外环境中准确跟踪移动用户的3D空间上下文。然后，通过以高精度解释空间上下文来检索用户在给定时间感兴趣的特定信息，从而允许准确地区分所识别的上下文信息的优先级。该项目的教育目标与研究错综复杂，包括为施工人员、工程师、检查员、研究人员和教育工作者举办的讲习班；课程开发和改进；以及招聘和留住最聪明的女性和少数族裔工程师的战略。这项研究至关重要，因为在需要时无法识别和获取相关信息是阻碍施工人员、工程师和维护人员以及对损坏已建基础设施的事件(如地震)做出快速和最佳决策的勘察检查员的主要障碍。该项目的成功将显著提高工作现场的生产率、准确性和安全性，并实现对当前操作、维护和建筑勘察做法的重大飞跃，这些做法往往容易出错、耗时、劳动密集型和原始。研究成果将适用于解决建筑和土木工程中的广泛工程问题，以及制造、造船和交通等其他领域。该项目将极大地帮助研究生和本科生的职业发展，包括积极参与研究活动并准备成为明天的工程师的女性和少数族裔工程师。该项目将产生新的软件工具和培训材料，将广泛分发给建筑、设施管理、勘察研究和专业人士，以增进对科学技术的了解。

The objective of this project is to design, implement, validate, and demonstrate a new, self-contained, context-aware Information Technology (IT) that will automatically provide constructors, maintenance crews, and reconnaissance inspectors with accurate, prioritized, contextual information for making critical, real-time decisions during construction, maintenance, and inspection of constructed facilities. The research objective will be achieved by developing a context-sensing framework that will accurately track a mobile user's 3D spatial context in an arbitrary indoor/outdoor environment using a novel combination of GPS and wireless positioning technologies. Specific information of interest to a user at a given time will then be retrieved by interpreting spatial context with a high level of precision, allowing the identified contextual information to be accurately prioritized. The project's educational objectives are intricately related to the research, and include workshops for constructors, engineers, inspectors, researchers, and educators; curriculum development and improvement; and strategies to recruit and retain the brightest women and minority engineers.This research is critical because the inability to identify and access relevant information at times of need is the primary obstacle that prevents rapid and optimal decision-making by constructors, engineers, and maintenance crews, as well as by reconnaissance inspectors who respond to events (e.g. earthquakes) that damage the built infrastructure. Success in this project will notably improve jobsite productivity, accuracy, and safety, as well as enable a significant leap over current practices of operation, maintenance, and building reconnaissance that are often error-prone, time consuming, labor intensive, and primitive. The research results will be applicable to solve a wide range of engineering problems in construction and civil engineering, as well as other domains such as manufacturing, shipbuilding, and transportation. This project will significantly help the career development of graduate and undergraduate students, including women and minority engineers who will actively participate in the research activities and prepare to become tomorrow's engineers. The project will lead to new software tools and training materials that will be widely distributed to the construction, facilities management, and reconnaissance research and professional communities to enhance scientific and technological understanding.