InnoTech Flashcards
What are the steps in the evolution of production industry through technology
- Mechanization, water power, steam power
- Mass production, assembly line, electricity
- Computer and automation
- Cyber physical systems
GHG emissions in the construction sector
- Built environment creates nearly 40% of the annual global CO2 emissions
- Building operations: 27%
- Embodied carbon: 13%
GHG emissions by materials in the construction sector
Concrete, steel, and aluminium: 23% of the global emissions
What are the main challenges in construction?
- Stagnating productivity
- Lack in sustainability
- Failure of reaching goals
- Lack of personal
(5. Unpredictable physical labor on site)
What are possible technological approaches in automation and production within the construction sector?
- AI
- Immersive technologies
- Industrialized construction
- Robotics in construction
- Digital design (BIM)
What are applications of AI in construction?
- Quality management
- Flaw detection
- Automation of application and documentation
- generative design
- data mining
What are applications of Industrialized construction?
- modular design
- buildings that are different
- prefabricated and standardized design
What are applications of robotics in construction?
- skilled labor high precision, consistent production quality, improved quality management (!)
- 3D printing
- on site quality management
- prefabrication
- additive manufacturing (on site)
What are applications of immersive technologies in construction?
- visualization of design, schedule, and cost
- human-machine collaboration
- XR - aided manufacturing and training
- simulation of construction processes
What are the stages of automation in construction?
- Improve transparency and validity (Start)
- Enable efficiency and safety (Processs)
- Achieve sustainability (Goal)
What method is made use of in the starting stage of improving transparency and validity?
Building Information Modeling
What methods are made use of in the process stage of enabeling efficiency and safety?
Automation of subprocesses:
1. Exosceleton
2. additive manufacturing
3. big data
4. VR/AR/XR
5. functional robots
What are the goals in achieving sustainability?
- circular construction
- individualized automation
- value aimed process design
- People-centred collaboration
What are possible definitions of a robot?
- A machine that resembles a living creature in being capable of moving independently and performing complex actions
- a machine built to resemble a human being or animal in appearence and behaviour
- a device that automatically performs complicated, often repetitive tasks
- a mechanism guided by automatic controls
What are ethical conflicts, that are often discussed in the context of automation?
- Job security
- Safety of work environment
- Ethics of artificial intelligence
What different categories describe robots?
- Mobility
- Area of application
- Tasks
- Morphology
- Autonomy
What are different types of robot morphologies?
- Humanoid
- Zoomorphic
- Functional
What are different types of robot mobilities?
- stationary
- mobile
What are different areas of robot application?
- Industry
- Commercial service
- Personal service
- Healthcare
What are different types of robot tasks?
- Manipulation
- Support
- Transport
- Data acquisition
- Inform
What are different types of robot autonomy?
- Assisted
- Partial automated
- Conditional autonomy
- High autonomy
- Full autonomy
What are the characteritics of the robot dog “Spot”?
Agile zoomorphic mobile robot that navigates terrain with unprecented four-legged mobility, allowing you to automate routine inspection tasks and data capture
What are the characteristics of the humanoid “Atlas”?
Atlas is a research platform for robotic mobility. Its advanced control system and state-of-the-art hardware make Atlas the worlds most dynamic humanoid robot
What are the characteristics of a robotic arm?
It is a type of mechanical arm, usually programmable, with similar functions to a human arm. An arm with links that are connected by joints allowing rotational motion. Also called articulated robot or industrial robot
What are the characteristics of a stationary robot cell?
Robot working within its robot cell: A structured and well organized determined area
What are the characteristics of a mobile rover?
A medium-sized unmanned ground vehicle development platform
What are the characteristics of a quadcopter?
A drone used in the construction industry mainly for surveying and inspection purposes. Drones are equipped with downward-facing sensors, such as RGB, multispectral, thermal and LIDAR, and they can capture a great deal of aerial data in short time
What are the levels of autonomy?
Level 1: assisted (no autonomy)
Level 2: partial automated
Level 3: conditional automated
Level 4: High automation
Level 5: Full automation
What are the characteristics of a level 1 autonomy?
assisted (no autonomy)
- Operator near robot
- Control in hands of operator
What are the characteristics of a level 2 autonomy?
partial automated
- operator near robot
- single automatic task and full time monitored
What are the characteristics of a level 3 autonomy?
conditional automated
- operator on site, needs to approve, but can do other tasks
- automated but needs approval for next step
What are the characteristics of a level 4 autonomy?
high automation
- operator on site, can intervene, but can do other tasks
- Highly automated but monitored
What are the characteristics of a level 5 autonomy?
full automation
- no operator needed
- no supervision needed
What are specific examples for robotics in construction?
- spatial timber assemblies
- robotic bricklaying
- digitizing construction
- overhead drilling
- autonomous excavation
- liftbot for scaffolds
- mobile robotic fabrication system for filament structures
What are the characteristics of a structured environment?
- no unknown obstacles
- predictable positioning
- mostly within robotic workcell
What are the characteristics of an unstructured environment?
- contains many obstacles
- Localisation difficult
- needs recalibration often
With what exemplary end-effectors can a robotic arm be equipped?
- Gripper
- Cutting
- Milling
- Scanning
- 3D printing
What are the levels of collaboration with industrial robots?
- co-existing
- cooperative
- semi interactive
- fully interactive
What is industrial construction?
Industrialization in construction through the use of prefabrication, standardized building parts, automation and digitalization, which leads to high individuality and efficiency as well as optimized logistics and assembly
What are features of industrialized manufacturing?
- division into specialized and standardized workloads
- capital intensive technology
- mass production
- streamlining (automation and objectalization)
What are features of industrialized construction?
- standardized building parts
- prefabrication -> mass production
- fast / pre- assembly
- optimized logistics
- flexible design
How can the construction industry today be described?
- individual projects
- on-site production
- sequential process
- large scale
- ongoing influene of the customer
- production of single parts
What is the fundamental principle of industrialized manufacturing?
Reduction of labor by increasing productivity through serial manufacturing
Name specific examples for industrialized construction applications
- prefabrication of timber wall modules and entire buildings
- industrialized production of rammed earth walls
- adaptive modules
What is digital design?
Achievement of initial goals through cooperative and coodinated planning to meet customer, regulatory, and downstream sectors requirements
What is digital fabrication?
Conversion of the design into standardized components for automation of production off-site
What is digital construction?
Just-in-time delivery, installation and on-site monitoring of activities to maximize productivity and minimize flaws
What is digital asset delivery and management?
Real-time monitoring for operation and maintenance to increase asset value
What are characteristics of Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD)
- IDD builds on the use of BIM and virtual design and construction
- Achieving planning goals through collaborative and coordinated planning to meet client, regulatory, and downstream sector requirements
- Creating a highly skilled workforce trained in the use of the latest technologies
What is AI?
Artificial Intelligence is when programs or computers perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence
What are the key characteristics of an AI system?
- Big data: processed, structured or unstructured
- Learning: patterns, feedback loop
- Reasoning: context driver awareness
- Problem solving: analysis and solving of complex problems
What are the development stages of AI?
- Narrow AI: machine learning
- General AI: machine intelligence
- Super AI: machine conciousness
What is machine learning (ML)?
ML is a type of AI that extract patterns out of raw data by using an algorithm or method. The main focus of ML is to allow computer systems to learn from experience without being explicitly programmed or human intervention
What is needed to build an machine learning model?
- Performance measure: proper metrics
- Task: problem to be solved
- Experience: something the model can learn from
What are categorizations of different machine learning methods?
- unsupervised learning
- supervised learning
- reinforced learning
Name methods and applications of unsupervised learning
- Clustering (e.g. targeted marketing, recommender sytsems, customer segmentation)
- Dimensionality reduction (e.g. big data visualization, meaningful compression, structure discovery, feature elicitation)
Name methods and applications of supervised learning
- Classification (e.g. identity fraud detection, image classification, customer retention, diagnostics)
- Regression (e.g. estimating life expectancy, market forecasting, weather forecasting, advertising popularity prediction)
Name applications of reinforced learning
- real time decisions
- robot navigation
- learning tasks
- skill acquisition
- game AI
How is supervised learning defined?
The main objective is to approximate the mapping function so that the output variable for a new input data can be predicted
How is classification defined?
The process of predicting class or category from observed values or given data points
How is regression defined?
The key objective of regression-based tasks is to predict output labels or responses which are contiues numeric values, for the given output data. It is used to find a correlation between dependent and independent variables
How is unsupervised learning definded?
Unsupervised learning algorithms are used in the scenario in which we do not have pre-labeled training data and we want to extract useful pattern from input data
How is clustering defined?
Clustering algorithms are used to process raw, unclassified data objects into groups represented by structures or patterns in the information
How is reinforcemend learning defined?
In RL there would be an agent that gets trained over a period of time so that it can interact with a specific environment. The agent will follow a set of strategies for interacting with the environment and then after observing, it will take actions regarding the current state of the environement.
What are challenges and ethics in AI?
- bad intentions
- ethical relativity
- false correlations
- biased data
Where can AI be applied in construction?
- Building material manufacturers
- Building material distributors / merchants
- Architects and planner
- Construction companies
- Facility managers
What is included in Extended Reality (XR)?
- Virtual reality (VR)
- Augmented reality (AR)
- Mixed reality (MR)
What are the characteristics of virtual reality (VR)?
- complete digital environment
- fully enclosed, synthetic experience with no sense of the real world
- e.g. VR goggles
What are the characteristics of augmented reality (AR)?
- real world with digital information overlay
- real world remains central to the experience, enhanced by virtual details
- e.g. Pokemon Go
What are the characteristics of mixed reality (MR)?
- real and the virtual are intertwined
- interaction with and manipulation of both the physical and virtual environment
- e.g. human robot collaboration
What are different types of tracking devices?
- outside-in tracking: cameras to be set up in the room
- inside-out tracking: cameras to HMD are constantly scanning the environment
What is a cave setup?
A cave automatic virtual reality environment (CAVE) is an immersive VR environment where projectors are directed to between three and six of the walls of a room-sized cube.
What are applications for immersive technologies in construction?
- Client realtime walkthrough
- virtual construction meeting
- virtual as-built site inspection
- on-site visualization of BIM data
- simulation for research purposes
- enhancing manufacturing processes
- holographic steel bar bending
- program and simulate navigation tasks
- brick walls in mixed reality
What is additive manufacturing?
Additive manufacturing or 3D-printing is the construction of a 3D object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified.
What is the difference between additive manufacturing and subtractive manufacturing?
- Subtractive manufacturing entails the removal of object parts to create a new product.
- Additive manufacturing processes build products by adding materials layer by layer. The core of this method is the addition of material together to create a new object
What is rapid prototyping (RP)?
RP is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using 3D computer aided design (CAD) data. Contruction of the part or assembly is usually done using 3D printing or AM technology
What are different types of additive manufacturing (AM)?
- FDM (Fuel Deposit Model): milling and extruding thermoplastic
- SLA (Stereolithography): Laser and UV light to cure a liquid resin
- SLS (Selective Laser Sintering): high powered laser to fuse polymer powder
What are advantages to use AM/3D printing processes right now?
Why is there such a hype around AM/3D printing processes right now?
- wide availiablity of CAD/CAM/BIM software
- improved automation and component technologies
- growing library of “printable” materials
- major industry and government investment
- freedom to operate enabled by patent expirations
- momentum, confidence, and creative vision
What are the key benefits of additive manufacturing?
- reduce waste
- decentralized production
- reduce weight
- low cost entry level
- increase accuracy
- higher design freedom
- automation
- wide range of material
What are different applications of AM in construction?
- portal printers
- polar cantilever printer
- 3D printing cable robots
- robot caterpilar
- robot for prefab
What are the opportunities of using additive manufacturing in construction?
- Automation
- Material reduction
- Built-in-Performance
What are current problems and barriers for additive manufacturing in construction?
- reinforcement during printing
- unsustainable (highly engineered fast-cured concrete)
- no standardization of norms and codes
How are the costs of automation developing in comparison to labor costs
Robot costs are shrinking while labor costs are increasing
Why is it important to introduce innovative technologies into the construction sector now?
Conventional construction gives birth to new technologies, which at the beginning phase are inferior in performance due to technical, organizational, and economical obstacles as well as to limited integration within an economic environment still dominated by mature and conventional technology.
However, new technologies will outperform the conventional ones over time
What are the main characteristics of industrialized construction?
- prefabrication in closed
environment - standardized fabrication
processes - lean manufacturing
- possibility for push- and
pull manufacturing
What is computational design
It is a design method that uses a combination of algorithms and parameters to solve design problems with advanced computer processing
What are the three types of computational design?
- Parametric design
- Generative design
- Algorithmic design
How is parametric design characterized?
- uses parameters
- rules
- can be easily modified
How is generative design characterized?
process of exploring multiple variations based on user input and parameters
How is algorithmic design characterized?
uses algorithm to create a design model
How can visualizations be used in a construction project?
- a 3D model can be developed to visualize the project from multiple angles
- provides support in communication to the customer
Name examples of what can be assessed in an advanced analysis for generating a building design using real input data?
- solar radiation
- sunlight access
- pedestrian wind comfort
- acoustic
- traffic and parking
- reflectivity
What are the principles of 3D printing?
- 3D file
- slicing
- 3D printing
- Object
What is the difference between traditional programming and machine learning?
Traditional:
Data + Rules -> Output
Machine learning:
Data + Output -> Rules
What are the basic components to any industrial robot?
- Manipulator (robot arm)
- Control Cabinet (controller)
- Teach Pendant (Flex pendant)
- Electricity and Data Cables
- Simulation and Programming software
What is voxel-based topological optimization for additive manufacturing?
Optimizing the use of concrete in prefabricated components can have a global impact in reducing material costs and the carbon footprint of buildings and infrastructure
-> often result in highly complex geometries which cannot be traditionally fabricated in concrete
What is topological optimization for additive manufacturing?
Complex Formwork is made possible by Additive Manufacturing of the negative.
-> highly effective in terms of individualization but is requiring an intensive iterative process to fabricate a single piece
What is topological optimization with manufacturing constraints in mind in additive manufacturing?
A very fast and common process is to use hot-wire cutting of expanded foam (Styrofoam, Styrodur, EPS, XPS, or even natural alternatives).
-> very cheap, fast but comes with some manufacturing constraints
What are manufacturing constraints for additive manufacturing?
- no enclosed areas
- robot limits
- cutting pattern
What type of coordinate system is used in geometry, and how is it different to the space a robot moves in?
In geometry, a cartesian coordinate system is usually made use of (y-axis pointing upwads). Robots move within the world coordinates (z-axis going up).
What are different types of movements for a robot?
- Linear Movement (movel)
- Joint Movement (movej)
How is a linear movement of a robot defined?
The interpolation points lie on a straight line, the path is defined by the start point and target point. Target points are set as cartesian coordinates.
How is a joint movement of a robot defined?
The path of the effector to the target point is uncontrolled and unpredictable. All axles are moved simultaneously and at different speeds. This means that all axles start and stop at the same time. This path is the “most efficient”. In Cartesian space, this results in a curved path
What are the differences of online vs. offline programming of robots?
- Offline programming refers to the programming of a robot in a simulation environment.
- Online programming allows programming or testing directly on the real robot. This can be done via the teach pendant directly on the robot.
What are the differences between modular construction process vs traditional?
design: Design with standardized parts and moduls vs. individual design
production: controlled production lines vs. serial production of building parts
assembly: Assembly of finished moduls on site vs. manual assembly of building parts on site
What are the characteristics of building platforms?
- rules and restraints transferred upstream
- information transferred downstream
What are the steps of modular construction?
- Splitting of building structures into modular elements
- Serial production with flow principle
- Assembly on construction site
Why is there such a hype around 3D printing processes right now?
- Availability of CAD/BIM software/data
- Improved automation & component tech
- Growing library
- Major government & industry invests
- Freedom to operate enabled by patent expiration
- Momentum, confidence & creative vision
What different 3D printing techniques exist?
- FDM (Full Deposit Model): melting & extruding
- SLA (Stereolithography): laser or UV-light to cure a liquid resin
- SLS (Selective laser sintering): high power laser to fuse polymer powder
Define Building Information Modeling (BIM)
BIM is a digital method for creating and managing information on a construction project throughout its whole life cycle. As part of this process, it is likely that this digital description includes a combination of information-rich 3D models and associated structured data such as product, execution and handover information.
