I-Corps: Interoperable Building Information Modeling and Construction of Robotic Systems for Building Construction Automation

这个i-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种分析和规划建筑自动化的软件技术。建筑业的生产力停滞不前，熟练劳动力严重短缺。拟议的技术旨在更有效地利用这些好处，并促进在建筑中采用机器人和自动化。这种效率可能会提高建筑、工程和建筑(AEC)行业的整体生产率，并缓解当前劳动力短缺带来的部分压力。拟议技术的潜在客户包括但不限于建筑设计师、建筑规划师、承包商、分包商和建筑物非现场建造(预制)组件的制造商。建筑自动化是一个重要的市场领域；例如，石膏板安装市场估计每年价值250亿美元。这项拟议的技术是针对建筑自动化市场，特别是木结构和石膏板安装应用。这个i-Corps项目是基于一种技术的开发，该技术利用基于逻辑的方法来分析和模拟下游应用中的建筑任务。拟议的技术旨在通过基于选定的机器人系统(可以是现成的或重新设计/定制的)使用模拟施工操作来分析建筑设计的可施工性，从而为机器人模拟提供输入。用于从基于工业基础类(IFC)的建筑信息模型中提取、分类、过滤和推理目标信息的逻辑表示和推理的研究成果构成了该技术的基础。该技术可以自动分析基于建筑信息建模(BIM)的建筑设计，并通过逻辑表示和推理来推断建筑层次信息。此外，这些算法可以提供一个有用的工具，从BIM自动生成信息，作为建筑自动化机器人系统分析的输入。提供了一个末端执行器系统，以促进在木结构和石膏板安装施工操作中使用工业机械臂。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a software technology that analyzes and plans construction automation. The productivity of the construction industry has stagnated and there is a critical skilled workforce shortage. The proposed technology seeks to more effectively harness the benefits and facilitate the adoption of robotics and automation in construction. This efficiency may boost the overall productivity of the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry and relieve some of the strain imposed by the current workforce shortage. Potential customers of the proposed technology include, but are not limited to, building designers, construction planners, contractors, subcontractors, and manufacturers of the off-site constructed (pre-fabricated) components of a building. Construction automation is a significant market sector; for example, the drywall installation market is estimated at $25 billion annually. The proposed technology is targeted at the construction automation market, especially wood framing and drywall installation applications.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a technology that leverages a logic-based approach for the analysis and simulation of construction tasks in downstream applications. The proposed technology seeks to provide input for robotic simulations by analyzing the constructability of the building design using simulated construction operations based on selected robotic systems, which can be off-the-shelf or redesigned/customized. Research results on logic representation and reasoning used to extract, classify, filter, and infer the target information from Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)-based building information models form the basis of the technology. The proposed technology may provide a way to automatically analyze building information modeling (BIM)-based building designs and infer construction level information through logic representation and reasoning. In addition, the algorithms may provide a useful tool to generate information automatically from BIM as input for robotic system analysis of construction automation. An end-effector system is provided to facilitate the use of industrial robotic arms in timber framing and drywall installation construction operations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.