Developing a Cloud-based Remote Inspection System for Construction Sites Using Robotics and Mixed Reality Technology

施工现场检查是确保特定项目按计划进行，符合项目要求和有关标准法规的有效方法。传统的检查需要不同专业人员的定期现场访问，这意味着从事这些检查的专业人员必须经常在两个地点之间奔波，并使用各种类型的设备进行评估。这可能会带来安全和健康风险、劳动力短缺和性别歧视，特别是在加拿大北部等偏远地区。作为派遣专业人员亲自进行现场检查的有利替代方案，该项目的目标是实现身临其境的实时远程建筑检查。该项目的预期成果包括一个机器人传感系统，检查员可以使用5G网络通过混合现实(MR)技术进行操作。在该系统中，将使用人工智能(AI)算法和建筑信息建模(BIM)通过云计算提供增强和标准化的检测。该项目的成果将在以下三个方面造福艾伯塔省和加拿大：(1)它将提高建筑生产率，同时降低现场勘察成本，从而为艾伯塔省和加拿大带来相关的经济效益。(2)拟议的制度将有助于通过利用其他地区的熟练工人库来缓解加拿大偏远地区的劳工短缺问题。由于这种做法在工作时间安排方面固有的灵活性，它还有可能减少对建筑业任职人数不足的群体(例如妇女)的就业歧视。(3)该系统将通过减少外来务工人员的旅行来帮助减少温室气体(GHG)排放，并将支持及时的现场检查，从而提高建筑质量。

The inspection of a construction site is an effective method for ensuring that a particular project is going as planned and in accordance with the project requirements and relevant standards and regulations. Traditional inspection necessitates periodic site visits from various professionals, meaning that the professionals engaged in these inspections must travel frequently between sites and employ various types of equipment for the assessment. This may pose safety and health risks, labour shortages, and gender discrimination, particularly in remote areas like northern Canada.As a favourable alternative to dispatching professionals to carry out site inspections in person, the goal of this project is to enable immersive and real time remote construction inspection. The expected outcomes of the project include a robotic sensing system that can be operated by inspectors through Mixed Reality (MR) technology using 5G network. In this system, Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms and Building Information Modelling (BIM) will be employed to provide enhanced and standardized inspection through cloud computing.The outcomes of the project will benefit Alberta and Canada in the following three respects: (1) It will increase the productivity of construction while reducing site inspection costs, thereby bringing associated economic benefits to Alberta and Canada. (2) The proposed system will help to mitigate labour shortage issues in remote regions of Canada by making use of the pools of skilled workers in other regions. It also has the potential to reduce employment discrimination with respect to underrepresented groups (e.g., women) in the construction industry due to the inherent flexibility of this approach in terms of work schedule. (3) The system will help to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing the travel of migrant workers and will support timely site inspection and thereby boost building quality.