• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1603-1608
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• 2008

Powered robotic exoskeletons are currently under development for assisting or supporting human muscle power. Many applications using this system for the purpose of national defense system, medical support, and construction industry are now frequently introduced. In this paper, we proposed the exoskeletal wearable robotics for construction workers. First, we analyzed general work conditions at the construction site and set up target tasks through the datum. Then dominant muscles’ activity which is related with the defined target tasks was checked up. Herein, wearers’ intent signal generation methodology was introduced in order to effectively activate the proposed system. In the final part of this paper, we evaluated the capability and feasibility of the exoskeletal robotics by the electromyography (EMG) signal variance; demonstrated that robotic exoskeletons controlled by muscle activity could be useful way of assisting with construction workers.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.75-86
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• 2022

High-rise buildings often can accommodate the population of small horizontal cities. The investment in high-rise buildings is considerable and therefore a rapid return on investment is necessary. The immediate availability of high-rise buildings can be achieved by automated prefabrication of highly finished modules and their instant on-site assembly by robotic and automated construction sites. A high-rise building as a vertical city can be considered as a sophisticated organism that can constantly change throughout its lifecycle in response to economic growth, demographic change, and environmental pressures. To date, many new urban high-rise developments claim to be "vertical cities", yet few represent this important characteristic. This article analyzed the technological readiness and innovations in the field of construction automation and robotics including single-task construction robots, automated on-site construction factories, and ambient assisted living. These technological advances enable the realization of future vertical cities that are able to continuously grow and transform in terms of form and function. Finally, the article proposes a visionary archetype of vertical city in the name of "dynamic vertical urbanism" that is easy to expand vertically and horizontally in order to achieve instant availability and full life cycle resilience thanks to advanced building technologies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute Of Construction Engineering and Management
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• autumn
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• pp.193-200
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• 2001

Technology innovation is critical for the construction industry in order to stay competitive in the global market for the 21st century. It is obvious that construction automation and robotics is an emerging topic for technological innovation. This paper reviews the construction automation and robotics R&D projects successfully performed by Japan, the United States, and European countries as well as Korea, and discusses current trends and future. Four issues are proposed in order to expedite the innovative construction automation technologies.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2021

There is a risk of serious injury to workers who work at height in pier construction process. By using auto climbing formwork system that does not need to dismantle and reinstall formworks, it is possible to improve work efficiency and safety of workers. However, auto climbing formwork system still requires workers to work on a pier for rebar connection works and so on. In order to eliminate works by workers on the pier, robot manipulators with special end effectors are proposed. Through analysis of works on the pier, three specialized end effectors which are a gripper, a rebar coupler press, and a concrete vibrator, are suggested. Also, new pier construction scenario by the suggested system is confirmed using 3d modeling. It is expected that the proposed system and method enables pier construction without workers on piers. It will increase safety and efficiency of pier construction.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.143-151
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• 2010

Automation and robotization has been required in construction for several decades and construction industry has become one of the important research areas in the field of service robotics. Especially in the steel construction, automatic recognition of structural steel members in the stockyard is emphasized. However, since the pose of steel frame in the stockyard is site dependent and also the stockyard is usually in the outdoor environment, it is difficult to determine the pose automatically. This paper adopts the recognition method based on the augmented reality to cope with this problem. Particularly focusing on the light condition of the outdoor environment, we formulated the optimization problem with the constraint and suggested the methodology to evaluate the optimal camera arrangement. From simulation results, sub-optimal solution for the position of the camera can be obtained.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.105-108
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• 2007

This study aims to develop a performance evaluation system for the Construction Factory(CF). The CF is a kind of full automation system for building construction which consists of the lifting system for building materials, the built-up unit for steel structural components, the bolting robots, the control center for the site management, and the site covering system. The CF is developing now as a project of the construction automation and robotics. In this study we firstly reviewed the state-of-the-art of the construction automation and robotics in the foreign and the domestic, and investigated the precedent case of the CF such as the SMART System of Shimizu Co., Japan. We believe that without an objective evaluation of the results there won't be growth in technological R&D. Therefore, this study sees the developing CF as an new technology and method in building construction, and proposes the direction and frame of the appropriate evaluation which can be applied into the CF.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.105-111
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• 2020

In recent years the construction sector has grown significantly in terms of investment and research on robotics and automation, yet it is still a low-tech and disjointed industry. One of the main scopes of this paper is to determine how robotic automation can provide the answers to the needs this industry has. To that end, an overall framework and development agenda of current technological innovation in the field has been outlined. Possible drawbacks and driving forces in the development of robots in the construction site have been identified. In addition, the review provides for state-of-the-art policies and regulations, as well as the short and medium-term outlook in different markets and countries. Ultimately, the forecast impact on traditional processes, construction sites, emerging technologies and related professions has been summarized in order to delineate prospective repercussions and future directions towards self-sufficiency.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.27-35
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• 2022

This study presents one man-portable, hazardous gas detecting and capturing robot. The robot can be fit in the trunk of a sedan car. Its weight is less than 20 kg. A dedicated gas intake mechanism is proposed for the robot. The robot can detect and capture gases at a height of 2 m above the ground, although the height of the robot is about 0.2 m. The performance of the gas intake mechanism is verified through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and experiments. Its gas detecting signals were acquired by serial communication and processed in Robot Operating System (ROS) based control software. The proposed robot can successfully move on rough terrains such as stairs, sand roads, and rock roads.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.774-781
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• 2014

This paper presents a fingerprint database construction method for WLAN RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator)-based indoor positioning. When RSSI is used for indoor positioning, the fingerprint method can achieve more accurate positioning than trilateration and centroid methods. However, a FD (Fingerprint Database) must be constructed before positioning. This step is a very laborious process. To reduce the drawbacks of the fingerprint method, a radio propagation model-based FD construction method is presented. In this method, an FD can be constructed by a simulator. Experimental results show that the constructed FD-based positioning has a 3.17m (CEP) error. In this paper, a spatial correlation method is presented to estimate the NLOS(Non-Line of Sight) error included in the FD constructed by a simulator. As a result, the NLOS error of the FD is reduced and the performance of the error compensated FD-based positioning is improved. The experimental results show that the enhanced FD-based positioning has a 2.58m (CEP) error that is a reasonable performance for indoor LBS (Location Based Service).

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.199-206
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• 2021

The robot is an effective means to perform repetitive tasks quickly and accurately. It could be more effective in dangerous environments where human is difficult to access. The construction site is a dangerous environment with a high possibility of industrial accidents where heavy work is frequently carried out at a high place. In particular, an accident in the construction site is highly likely to lead to a severe disaster. Of course, various technologies are being developed to monitor the safety of workers in construction sites and prevent accidents, but there is a limit to eliminate the risk of accidents. Therefore, it is necessary to make efforts to replace workers exposed to dangerous environments with equipment or robots that could be controlled remotely in a more active way. In this study, Remote Precise Installation System was proposed to replace the workers exposed to the risk of accident at a high place during the bridge construction. Also, the conceptual design and analytical reviews of this system were carried out. Suppose Remote Precise Installation System is developed according to the derived concept and the target performance. In that case, this system is expected to be applied as a technology that can effectively replace the workers at the bridge construction site.