Technology has entered everywhere changing the landscape of almost every sector. While industries are on the path of revolution, AI and robotics are the latest arms of technology leaving no stone unturned to amplify the efficiency and safety of each task. The construction industry is no different. Armed with the latest tools, application algorithms, and technological devices, this former manual industry is leaping towards digitalization, enhanced efficiency, and ultimate safety.
How AI is Shaping Up General Contractors’ Lives
General contractors are professional craftsmen who design, build, or repair a construction project from beginning to end hired by property owners. They are a team of architects who bring life to a residential, commercial, or heritage building back to life by repairing, remodeling, or renovating the exterior and interior design.
AI is a data science application that integrates huge data sets and smart computer technology to solve real-world problems.
Benefits Offered By AI
Planning and Designing Construction Activity
An efficient blueprint is essential before the construction of any structure. However, each category of professionals involved in the project, from engineers, architects, and electricians to plumbers, has its own set of 3D models. To ensure that these designs do not clash with one another, AI and machine learning inspect all the designs and variations to build optimal solutions.
Building Information Modelling (BIM), the 3D Modeling design software powered by AI builds 3D Models to plan, design, build, and manage buildings and other constructions. Based on these designs, BIM builds various models and enhances each after repetition. The process is performed countlessly till an ideal model is achieved, presenting general contractors with an optimal design according to requirements.
Preventing Risk
On a job site, multiple subcontractors are employed simultaneously in different tasks. Every construction site may encounter safety hazards, quality issues, delays, and overruns. AI algorithms automatically rank sites based on the risk associated and make general contractors take up projects based on these rankings. It identifies issues like unsafe scaffoldings, waterlogging, high-risk activities, and personnel without protective gear equipment. Hence, by leveraging AI and machine learning in construction projects, general contractors can monitor, prioritize, and diminish potential risks on the site.
Predictive Analytics
Artificial intelligence powered by tools like the Internet of Things (IoT), can monitor heavy equipment and vehicles. IoT can track real-time locations, measure the condition of in-service equipment to diagnose their future maintenance requirements i.e. predictive maintenance, and monitor fuel and battery levels. Further, data collected from sensors, IoT devices, and historical projects in vast numbers gets analyzed by AI algorithms easily. It enables general contractors to predict future equipment breakdowns, and other potential issues and take effective measures beforehand. It saves time, cost, unnecessary work disruption, and enables efficient project planning.
Role Of Robotics in Augmenting General Contractors’ Craftsmanship
Robotics is the amalgamation of science, technology, and engineering. These three are applied to create machines called robots that are designed to substitute or replicate human actions.
Monitoring the Progress of Projects
Drones, integrated with sensors, and advanced cameras can inspect the entire construction site on their own and capture high end resolution images of the ongoing works. Based on these images, they can generate 3D Maps.
These 3D Maps are further fed into deep neural networks that access the real progress of the project in comparison to Building Information Modelling (BIM). It helps the general contractors track progress of the project and diagnose any quality errors happening beforehand so that projects do not overrun or take more money.
Enhancing Productivity Of Construction Sites
Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) such as automatic bulldozers, trucks fitted with advanced navigation systems and sensors can prepare a job site by executing tasks like excavation, material transportation, site grading up to precise level without human intervention.
Similarly, industrial robots like stationary ones perform repetitive tasks like demolition, welding, pouring concrete, bricklaying with more efficiency than their human counterparts. Robots can further track labor shortage in a project site helping the general contractor manage workforce in an ideal manner.
AI and robotics are two coming age innovations that offers immense contribution toward a general contractor’s success. They bring latest data-driven technology, tracks real-time progress , enhances construction site efficiency, and saves both cost and time associated with a project. With all these advantages, these technologies are blessings in disguise.