A Low-Cost and Smart IMU Tool for Tracking Construction Activities

Abstract

Real-time activity monitoring is becoming one of the most significant technologies on construction sites because it can be applied to a variety of management problems, such as productivity formula and safety monitoring. However, current monitoring technologies are limited to recognizing postures in an ideal environment rather than dealing with the ambient occlusion and people-intensive situations on real construction sites. Therefore, this study develops a low-cost, non-intrusion and portable tool system in order to trace and track construction activities on complex and crowed construction sites. This system is composed of wireless sensors and a smart algorithm. Each sensor consists of an inertial measurement unit, a communication sensor (bluetooth low energy sensor) and several environmental sensors, which broadcasts the identification, acceleration, palstance and environmental measurements at a constant frequency. Since the dimension of the sensor is only 20 x 15 x 2 mm, it can be easily attached or screwed on to the hand tools as well as integrated with power tools. When a laptop or cell phone receives from these sensors, the construction activities are derived by the artificial intelligence algorithm in a timely manner, providing an visual posture monitoring as well as an automatic record of project progress. In the end, practical experiments of a concrete vibrator and a hammer prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed IMU-based tool tracing and tracking system.

Influence of brick laying height on biomechanical load in masons: Cross-sectional field study with technical measurements

“…[45,52] and onset/offset of activity e.g. [53,54]. Furthermore, IMUs have been used for developing a real-time motion warning equipment for WMSDs prevention [55].…”

“…The present study uses technical field measurements that have been used in previous research in the construction industry [54,75,76] to assess physical workload during bricklaying. Previously, researchers have studied physical workload in terms of; workload, posture, heart rate, and oxygen uptake during bricklaying [35,36,40,41].…”

Productivity Measurement through IMU-Based Detailed Activity Recognition Using Machine Learning: A Case Study of Masonry Work

“…Furthermore, motion sensors such as IMUs are not affected by low illumination conditions that are common in construction jobsites such as underground construction or night-time work [17]. Due to the above-mentioned advantages, IMU-based approaches have also been adopted in construction research including human activity recognition [43,44], equipment recognition [40,45,46], and safety risk detection [47,48]. Therefore, the IMU-based activity recognition was selected as the objective for this study.…”

Measuring Labor Input: Construction Activity Counting Using IMU on Hand Tools

“…To improve productivity, as well as ensure safety, a range of hand tools has been developed and implemented at construction sites, and, with the advances made in the development of construction tools, a large proportion of construction tasks are performed more quickly and accurately with less manpower [2,3]. As we move into an era of "connected things" and artificial intelligence, it is natural to think of the opportunities that new and automated techniques can provide to improve conventional process tracking ways that are open to leveraging smart tools, including concrete vibrators [4], portable power tools [5], and wire-tying hand tools [6]. This study pursues the notion that tool data will become the basis for new insights into construction processes with high resolution and proposes an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)-based tool data acquisition system to enable the use of hand tools to be tracked and recorded.…”