Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Integration with Digital Technologies toward Construction 4.0: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been employed in the construction industry in the last decade for various purposes such as progress monitoring and building inspection. Recently, there has been a rising trend of employing UAVs with other digital technologies (DTs), such as Building Information Modeling and Extended Reality. The integration of these technologies encourages automation and digitization toward better project performance. However, little is known about the implementation of UAVs in conjunction with other DTs. Therefore, this study performs a systematic literature review to determine application areas and technology trends regarding UAVs’ integration with other DTs. The search yielded 287 articles, of which 36 satisfied the established inclusion criteria and formed the foundation of this systematic review. Seven application areas of UAV integration with other DTs were identified: progress monitoring, historic building conservation, information management, construction safety, construction education, structural and infrastructure inspection, and transportation. This study also revealed UAV technology trends encouraging automation and digitization: automated progress monitoring, automated UAV inspection planning, real-time video streaming, and parametric model development of historicbuildings. This study is expected to be a starting point of future in-depth research by providing a general understanding of the current applications of UAVs integration with other DTs.

Information Acquisition and Seismic Damage Prediction of Masonry Structures in Rural Areas Based on UAV Inclined Photogrammetry

“…This method has several benefits, especially in rural China where brick buildings are ubiquitous and earthquake-prone (Soleymani, Jahangir, & Nehdi, 2023). Masonry constructions are more seismically sensitive in particular regions due to their material and architectural features, according to Rachmawati and Kim (2022). Conventional methods for examining these structures are restricted.…”

Critical analysis of the use of extended reality XR for training in civil engineering

“…Given the new challenges posed by Construction 4.0, the construction industry has been adopting and testing various emerging technological tools, including XR, which combines virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) [75]. VR generates full virtual content within a computer‐generated artificial three‐dimensional (3D) environment for users [110] and permits first‐person immersion, recreation of real environments, and interaction with multiple types of scenarios [103].…”

A Cross-Source Point Cloud Registration Algorithm Based on Trigonometric Mutation Chaotic Harris Hawk Optimisation for Rockfill Dam Construction

“…High-precision three-dimensional (3D) models are required for visualising construction simulations and engineering topology carriers. These models are the basis and prerequisite of digitalising water conservancy projects and have been applied to activities, such as dam safety inspection [ 3 ], project progress display [ 4 ], and augmented reality (AR) model construction [ 5 ]. The application of 3D models to water conservancy projects aims to establish the mapping relationship between the natural space entity of a rockfill dam and the virtual space of a computer 3D model.…”