Abstract. This paper presents a new prototype framework of automated tracking and monitoring system for construction materials. Previous technologies such as RFID and GPS deployed in construction material tracking have been reviewed and signal strength-based localisation has been examined. As an emerging network standard for industrial applications, brief specifications of ZigBee™ protocol have been described. We introduce a ZigBee-based tracking system architecture using hybrid techniques of RF and ultrasound to improve positioning accuracy and cost benefit. Finally, feasibility analysis and application scenario have been examined to present the possible deployment framework in construction area.

Today's mobile and remote construction applications, such as tracking of materials, equipment, and workers, demand high reliability and scalability of wireless sensor networks for a large-scale construction site. In particular, identifying the location of distributed mobile entities throughout wireless communications becomes the primary task to realize the remote tracking and monitoring of the construction assets. Even though several alternative solutions have been introduced by utilizing recent technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) and the global positioning system (GPS), they could not provide a solid direction to accurate and scalable tracking frameworks in large-scale construction domains due to limited capability and inflexible networking architectures. This article introduces a new tracking architecture using wireless sensor modules and shows an accuracy performance using a numerical simulation approach based on the time-of-flight method. By combining radio frequency (RF) and ultrasound (US) signals, the simulation results showed an enhanced accuracy performance over the utilization of an RF signal only. The proposed approach can provide potential guidelines for further exploration of hardware/software design and for experimental analysis to implement the framework of tracking construction assets.

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