Supporting smart construction with dependable edge computing infrastructures and applications

The Internet of Things (IoT) such as the use of robots, sensors, actuators, electronic signalization and a variety of other Internet enabled physical devices may provide for new advanced smart applications to be used in construction in the very near future. Such applications require real-time responses and are therefore time-critical. Therefore, in order to support collaboration, control, monitoring, supply management, safety and other construction processes, they have to meet dependability requirements, including requirements for high Quality of Service (QoS). Dependability and high QoS can be achieved by using adequate number and quality of computing resources, such as processing, memory and networking elements, geographically close to the smart environments. The goal of this study is to develop a practical edge computing architecture and design, which can be used to support smart construction environments with high QoS. This study gives particular attention to the solution design, which relies on latest cloud and software engineering approaches and technologies, and provides elasticity, interoperability and adaptation to companies' specific needs. Two edge computing applications supporting video communications and construction process documentation are developed and demonstrate a viable edge computing design for smart construction.