Extending automation of building construction - Survey on potential sensor technologies and robotic applications

Today, many construction operations have incorporated automated equipment, means, and methods into their regular practises. Although adaption of automation in the building construction sector has been slow, principles of industrial automation are applicable to this domain, both to building construction, civil engineering, and to prefabrication of construction components. Improved sensor technologies and the widening use of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) will offer new possibilities to cover various needs and operations taking place throughout the building life cycle. These can play a key role in future construction automation. This paper provides a survey for potential sensor technologies for building construction automation, highlighting their potential also with contributions from robotics. The paper carries out the survey from the viewpoints of building construction phases. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.