This paper presents further development and experimental testing of Comp-TRAK, a prototype system for identification and spatial tracking of structural steel components on a live construction site. Comp-TRAK is a web-based system for rapid tracking of construction components with compact, field-rugged sensors and computers, interoperability protocols for data transmission, and a 3-D site visualizer that reflect the current state of tracked components on the construction site. The result is a graphicallydriven system that provides real-time identification, position, and orientation data about components to users in the field and at remote locations.

A significant problem in construction automation is the difficulty of interfacing and integrating subsystems (e.g. sensors, databases, visualization systems) into a useful whole. In this paper, we describe our past and present efforts toward the design and implementation of network protocols to address this problem. Our current design effort concentrates on communicating, "who, what, where, and when" data over internet-protocol (IP) networks, and is based on the IEEE 1278 (distributed interactive simulation) protocol family, with some extensions to meet the anticipated needs of construction automation systems.

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