Evaluation of Standard Product Models for Supporting Automated Erection of Structural Steelwork.
Evaluation of Standard Product Models for Supporting
Automated Erection of Structural Steelwork.
(639 K)
Kamat, V. R.; Lipman, R. R.
Automation in Construction, Vol. 16, No. 2, 232-241,
March 2007.
Keywords:
steel structures; evaluation; automation; construction;
computer graphics; emulation; standards; geometry;
structural members; steel columns; steel beams
Abstract:
Automation is being increasingly explored as a possible
solution for safely increasing productivity in
structural steelwork erection. A piece of automation
equipment has no intrinsic knowledge of the steel
erection process. Thus, geometric and spatial member
information, and the motion sequences that must be
executed to install steel members must both be
programmed into the equipment. This research
investigates the extent to which the CIMsteel
Integration Standards (CIS/2) can support automated
steelwork erection. Algorithms to interpret steel member
geometry and spatial configuration from CIS/2 files were
designed. Then, using inverse kinematics principles from
robotics literature, a kinematically smart crane capable
of accepting robot-like instructions was implemented in
3D virtual reality. The crane was programmed to utilize
the algorithms to automatically extract member
information from CIS/2, and to use that information to
compile assembly instructions for erecting the structure
in the virtual world. Based on the obtained results, it
was found that CIS/2 does encapsulate the basic geometry
and position and orientation of steel members in a
format that, after geo-referencing, can be used to
support automated steelwork erection. However, several
processing steps are necessary to compute the
information needed from the CIS/2 model for the process
description of erection needed by the automation
equipment.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899