Integrating barcode and GIS for monitoring construction progress
Min-Yuan Cheng* , Jiann-Chyun Chen*
*Department
of Construction Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract
This study focuses on developing an automated
schedule monitoring system for precast building
construction.
Erection of prefabricated structural
components is the major critical activity for precast
building construction. An efficient lifting schedule and
control plan can significantly reduce construction conflicts
and project delay. In this research, the system ArcSched
was developed to assist engineers in controlling and
monitoring the erection process in a real time basis.
ArcSched is composed of a GIS integrated with a database
management system. Through systematic monitoring of
the construction process and representation of the erection
progress in graphics and colors, the scheduled components
for erection are repetitively tracked and well controlled to
implement the lifting schedule as planned.
1. Introduction
Prefabrication of concrete structures is one of the
most important advances made in the last decades towards
industrialization of the building process.
The
construction sequence of precast building involves a close
relationship between the design, construction, detailing,
execution, and manufacturing of elements [3]. It is very
difficult to obtain a successful project if the
interrelationship between all aspects of prefabrication is
not understood by all engineers involved.
In the
planning and design phases, designers have to design and
divide the structural system while considering the
advantages of prefabrication, economic solutions and the
reduction of construction time. The structural elements
are prefabricated in the manufacturing plant and
transported to the job site for installation. The schedules
for prefabrication and transport of the structural elements
to the job site are developed based on the construction
installation schedule. Also, the storage and management
of the prefabricated elements, installation sequence,
schedule, and construction path planning should be
well-planned before the construction commences. Full
consideration of constructability in planning, design, and
manufacturing phases to improve construction efficiency
can significantly effect the success of precast building
construction [13].
Erection of prefabricated structural components is the
major critical activity for precast building construction.
An efficient lifting and control plan can reduce
construction conflicts and project delay. Hence, project
managers should bear in mind the possibilities, restrictions,
advantages and disadvantages of precasting, detailing,
manufacturing, transport and erection, and servicing
stages before developing a final construction installation
plan on the basis of precast design. This study enhances
the management and control of the construction erection
process by developing a real time schedule monitoring
and control system. In the development of the system,
industry ‘rules of thumb’ and the latest technology in
schedule control and monitoring were reviewed and
compiled in a systematic format. Using the concept of
distributed data collection and centralized management,
an on-site control center is established for collecting and
analyzing the construction information. The bar code
system combining with wireless radio transmit technology
is applied to collect and transmit the job site data to the
control center automatically.
Through a real time
monitor of the construction process, the scheduled
components for erection are repetitively tracked and well
controlled to assure the lifting schedule is implemented as
planned.
1.1 Research objectives
The primary purpose of this paper is to develop an
automated schedule control and monitoring system for
precast building construction. The objectives required to
achieve the primary purpose are the following: (1) apply a
bar code system integrated with radio frequency transmit
technology to improve the efficiency of job site data
collection, (2) develop an on-site control center provided
with the real time schedule monitoring system to control
and monitor the lifting operations, (3) identify the
differences between the planned schedule and
construction progress, (4) display the erection progress
status and sequence in graphics with different colors and
labels, and (5) allow for graphical query of the detailed
shop drawings and the related tabular attributes.
1.2 Scope definition
In this study, the system ArcSched was developed to
assist construction managers in controlling and monitoring
the lifting process for precast building construction.
With appropriate modifications, ArcSched can be applied
to steel structure for controlling and monitoring the steel
erection process. Considerations of design automation
and using automated/knowledge based system for erection
scheduling in a manufacturing plant are beyond the scope
of this study. However, it would be a worthwhile study
to integrate these subjects with automated controlling and
monitoring of construction process in order to assist the
project manager in the management of the project.
2.
Construction integration using an
auto-mated bar code identification system
Construction integration is achieved by applying the
automated bar code identification system in different
phases of the precast construction life cycle [2,6,7,11,12].
Bar code applications are implemented in three phases: (1)
design, (2) manufacturing, and (3) construction erection.
Through the application of the bar code system, the data
integrity and consistency between different phases are
ensured.
(1) Design phase:
During the design phase, the structural components
for prefabrication are analyzed and divided after detailed
design layout and structural analysis are completed.
According to the principles of the prefabricated element
coding system, each prefabricated unit is assigned with a
unique code. This code is the identification of the
element, which will be used for manufacturing, transport,
storage, and construction installation.
(2) Manufacturing phase
The structural components are produced in the plant
based on the schedule of production. The bar code
assigned for each element in the design phase is used for
the creation of shop drawings, production schedule, and
inventory control of the finished products in the storage
yard.
(3) Construction erection phase
Before the construction commences, managers have
to prepare the installation schedule according to the
construction plan and develop a lifting schedule database.
The manufacturing and transport schedules are
reconfirmed based on the installation schedule and fed
back to the manufacturer as a reference for planning and
revising the production plan.
The consistency of
information between manufacturing and construction
phases can be assured. Through the identification of the
bar code, the managers can record the prefabricated
elements transported to the site, identify the storage area,
and inquiry into the erection sequence and schedule by
using ArcSched installed in the main computer of the
control center.
The process of integration through the application of
bar code is shown in Figure 1.
Bar Code System : Element ID
Plan & Design
Layout Drawings
Detailed Drawings
Shop Drawings
Element ID
Manufacturing
Construction
 Production Plan
 Assembly Line Arrangement
 Check & Repair
 Inventory Control
 Transport Schedule
 Data Entry
 Storage Query
 Erection Schedule Query
 Installation
Bar Code
Integration
Life Cycle
Estimate
Feedback
Figure 1 Construction Integration Using Bar Code
3. Architecture of the schedule monitoring
and control process
The architecture of the schedule monitoring and
control process is developed according the needs of the
management of the erection process (Figure 2). The
operational structure for job site scheduling control has
four parts including: (1) wireless bar code transmit system,
(2) on-site control center, (3) automated data collection
using bar code collector, and (4) v8 video monitoring.
Radio Tower
(or on the top
of crane)
Network
Controller
Wireless
Transmit
(2)Bar Code Data Collecter
Storage Yard
Base Radio Unit
Wire
(1)On-Site Control Center
(Job Office)
Wireless
Transmit
(2)Bar Code Data Collecter
Data Entry
Lifting
(3)V8 Video Monitor
Figure 2 Operational Structure for On-Site Schedule Monitoring and Control
(1) Wireless bar code transmit system
The wireless bar code transmit system is a technology
combining the bar code system with radio frequency (RF)
transmit technology. It is applied to collect and transmit
the data generated on the job site to the control center.
RF has primary applications in areas where environmental
constraints prohibit the use of other automatic
identification technologies [10,14].
Especially for
construction site, the places for gathering and entering
data may change along with the progress of construction.
Also, the working environment is severe and the area of
the site always has a certain amount of scale. Thus, it is
very suitable to apply RF technology for gathering and
transmitting the job site data.
(2) On-site control center
The on-site control center is established in the job
office. Using the concept of distributed data collection
and centralized management, an on-site control center is
established for collecting and analyzing the construction
information. When the bar code of the prefabricated
element is wirelessly transmitted to the center, the data is
imported into the ArcSched database for later inquiry and
analysis. As the central administration, the control
center is used for bar code read/write, data import/export,
data query, and scheduling control. Through real time
monitoring of the construction process, the scheduled
components for erection are repetitively tracked and well
controlled to implement the lifting schedule as planned.
(3) Automated data collection using bar code collector
Data collection efficiency is improved by using the
automated bar code collector to gather and enter the job
site data [1,4]. There are two stages for using the
wireless bar code transmit system to collect the bar code
of the prefabricated unit: (a) job site entrance and (b)
storage yard.
When the prefabricated units are
transported to the job site, the bar codes of the
prefabricated units are read by the bar code collector at the
site entrance. Through wireless RF transmission, the
data is transmitted to the control center and saved in the
associated database. To lift the units from the storage
yard for installation, the bar codes of the units are also
read and transmitted to the control center to check the
related erection information such as position, sequence,
and date.
(4) V8 video monitoring
V8 is installed on the top of the tower crane to
monitor the installation process. The camera’s shooting
directions can be changed along with the movement of the
tower crane. Thus, the camera always monitors the
erection operation in progress. Moreover, operators can
remotely control the camera to change its shooting
directions to the designed locations. The purposes of
using V8 for automated monitoring of construction
progress include: (a) project managers can timely monitor
the erection process in the job site office with no need to
go out into the field, (b) prevent the occurrence of element
displacement, and (c) due to the improvement of
communication efficiency, the erection accuracy and
efficiency is increased. The video tapes can also be
saved as construction records for improvement of the
erection process and training. Coaxial cable is the
transmission media used to transmit the video image to
the control center.
needs of the users. According to user‘s needs, the
information flow for controlling the erection process is
identified. The functional modules of the system are
developed based on the information flow (Fig 3).
4. System development
4.1 System usage
System usage essentially involves identifying the
Design Completed
BarCode
時程推估
Element Erection
Schedule
Floor Erection
Schedule
V8 Video Monitor
Erection Schedule Planning & Monitoring Module
Schedule Estimate
Precast Element Information Management
Manufacture
Labeled w/ BarCode
Element
Query
ArcSched
System
Erection Query
Schedule Control &
Date calculation
GIS Schedule Display & Query Module
difference
A Location
Transport
B Location
Data Entry &
Storage Query
Drawing w/ Color & Label
Display Installation Status
Drawing-to-Data
Query
Drawing-to-Drawing
Query
Wireless Bar
Code Collecter
Figure 3 Information Flow for Schedule Monitoring and Control
4.2 System architecture
The architecture of the system involves identification
of the tools used to develop the system’s functional
modules and the means by which each will interface with
one another and the user.
Figure 4 shows the
architecture of the system. The user and program
interface for ArcSched is established at three levels:
application user interface, command user interface, and
program data interface.
Application User
Interface
User
Visual Basic Commands & Arc/Info SML
Command User
Interface
The prime components of the system, including
Visual Basic, Arc/Info, and MS-Project, are developed
under a Window environment. The user communicates
with the components of the system through a custom
interface developed in Visual Basic. A set of the
application user interface objects including pull down
menus, pop up menus, and forms were developed for the
system. In addition to automating the system design and
directing the program flow of control, the command user
interface is used to integrate the tools applied for the
development of the functional modules. The program
data interface writes/reads the information to/from the
associated databases. In this way, the data files which
are stored in a standard dBASE file format act as the
communication media.
4.3 System functions
Visual
Basic
Arc/Info
Text File
Project
OLE
Visual Basic Integration
Program Data
Interface
DateBase
Windows
Figure 4 System Working Environment
ArcSched is composed of a Geographic Information
System (GIS) integrated with a database management
system (DBMS). The system has three major modules,
the precast component information management module,
erection schedule planning and control module, and GIS
schedule display and query module (Figure 5). With
application of the Bar Code system and program data
interface, the three functional modules are integrated by
storing, retrieving, and managing the information to/from
the associated databases [5, 9].
Visual Basic Program Control
Schedule Monitoring & Control System
Precast Element Information
Management Module
GIS Schedule Display
Control
Retrieve Erection Schedule Planning
& Monitoring Module
& Query Module
Join
Erection
Schedule
DataBase
(1) Precast unit information management module
The precast unit information management module is
developed using Visual Basic.
According to the
capabilities and information needed for the user to
conduct construction installation, four major functions of
the module are identified : (1) data entry and storage
management (Figure 6), (2) V8 video monitor(Figure 7),
(3) erection schedule query, and (4) schedule estimation
(Figure 8). The management and maintenance of the
erection schedule database is directly controlled by this
module.
Export/Import
Bar Code System
Windows
Figure 5 System Structure of the Functional Modules
ArcSched-Schedule Monitoring System [Site Entrance Data Entry ]
Figure 6 Data Entry Menu at Site Entrance
ArcSched-[Erection Information]
Figure 7 Real Time Erection Monitoring Menu
Query
Results
Figure 8 Schedule Estimate for Transportation
(2) Erection schedule planning and control module
MS-Project is the tool used to create and control the
scheduling plan. To develop the erection plan, the
quantity of daily erections is calculated based on the
consideration of constructability, construction plan,
manufacturing plan, lifting capacity, and the
categorizations of the precast units. This module allows
the user to prepare the network of the erection sequence
and formulate the logic of the contemplated program.
Figure 9 shows the structure of the scheduling plan. The
scheduling plan is classified in two levels: preliminary and
detailed schedules. The functions of the module include:
(1) network display, (2) activity selection, (3) progress
update, and (4) duration calculation and difference
analysis.
Preliminary
Preliminary Schedule
◎Preliminary Schedule﹣Floor Schedule
◎Detailed Schedule﹣Erection Schedule
Floor
Schedule
Schedule Plan
Export
Detailed Schedule
Erection
Schedule
Erection Schedule DataBase
Import
Detail
Schedule Control Plan
Figure 9 Erection Schedule Control Plan
(3) GIS schedule display and query module
Geographic Information System (GIS) is a set of tools
to model, store, retrieve, manipulate, and analyze spatial
data. The generic GIS can be viewed as a number of
specialized spatial routines laid over a standard relational
data base management system [8]. GIS combines CAD
with a relational database management system (DBMS)
and stores the descriptive information as attributes of the
graphical features. In this study, the graphical display
and query is carried out using the GIS Arc/Info functional
modules such as Starter Kit, Arcplot, and Tables. The
fundamental information representation functions of
Arc/Info enables the efficient representation of erection
sequence, position, schedule and progress in graphics and
labels.
The primary functions of this module are
described as follows: (1) file management: Allow the user
to access, retrieve, delete, display, and manipulate the
related files; (2) design display: Display the design
drawings along with the erection sequence and position
represented in labels (Figure 10); (3) “drawing-to-data”
query: The drawing-to-data query is a graphic
representation of the site features, design drawings and the
associated tabular attributes. It is a communication,
which assists the user to identify the storage area, erection
sequence, erection position, and erection schedule. The
querying of the tabular attributes is the function used to
display the labels associated with the design drawing and
the integrated information of a particular entity in the
coverage. Hence, the user can proceed the installation
process in real time according to the inquired information.
The erection accuracy and efficiency is improved.
(Figure 11); (4) “drawing-to-drawing” query: This is a
graphical query of the detailed shop drawings. When the
design drawing is displayed in graphics using GIS, the
user can double click the graphical features to query the
related shop drawings. This function serves as a graphic
file manager that enhances the system flexibility by
making it easy for the user to access, retrieve, and display
the related graphic files (Figure 12).
The drawings
including site coverages, design drawings and shop
drawings are hierarchically saved in the form of a tree.
Depending on the user’s needs, the site coverages and
various drawings can be displayed on the screen in either
a detailed or abstract form.
Also, the functions, design
display, “drawing-to-data” query, and graphical display of
erection progress, can be activated along with the
operation of this function; and (5) graphical display of
erection progress: Display the status of erection progress
in graphics with different colors (Table 1).
For
example, on the design drawing, the graphic feature
displayed in black represents that the prefabricated
element has not yet been delivered to the site. White
color shows that the element was delivered to the site, but
not installed, and red color signifies that the element was
installed. As the installation of the prefabricated unit is
completed and confirmed by the user through v8
monitoring, the color of the associated graphic feature is
changed to reflect the lifting progress. Nevertheless, the
Video tape can be saved as construction records for
training.
The erection progress can not only be
controlled by the construction mangers through directly
graphical display and query of the drawings, but also the
erection accuracy and efficiency are insured.
ArcSched GIS System
Figure 10 Design Drawing Erection Sequence Display
for precast building construction. Also, the integration
of schedule and design information makes it easy for the
project manager to monitor and control the erection
progress.
Owing to Arc/Info‘s ability to integrate
locational and thematic information, the graphical display
and database queries including graphic file management,
design
display,
drawing-to-data
query,
drawing-to-drawing query, and graphical display of
erection progress are achieved. In comparison with
current methods, this paper creates a new way of thinking
to represent the construction progress in graphics using
GIS.
ArcSched improves schedule control efficiency by
integrating spatial and thematic information into a single
environment. The application of the real time schedule
monitoring system can not only improve the construction
constructability, but also positively impact the
construction efficiency.
Figure 11 Drawing-to-Data Query
6. References
ArcSched GIS System
Figure 12 Drawing-to-Drawing Query
Table 1 Control Status of Prefabricated Units
Element Color
Control Status
black
not delivered
white
not installed
red
installed
GIS Code
code “0”
code “1”
code “2”
5. Conclusions and recommendations
The endeavor of this paper focuses on developing an
automated schedule monitoring system to assist the
managers to control the erection process for precast
building construction. ArcSched improves the data
collection efficiency by integrating bar code system with
the wireless RF transmit technology. The development
of the computer integrated construction system
successfully improves the efficiency of lifting operations
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