A filter-mediated communication model for design collaboration in building construction.

Multidisciplinary collaboration is an important aspect of modern engineering activities, arising from the growing complexity of artifacts whose design and construction require knowledge and skills that exceed the capacities of any one professional. However, current collaboration in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries often fails due to lack of shared understanding between different participants and limitations of their supporting tools. To achieve a high level of shared understanding, this study proposes a filter-mediated communication model. In the proposed model, participants retain their own data in the form most appropriate for their needs with domain-specific filters that transform the neutral representations into semantically rich ones, as needed by the participants. Conversely, the filters can translate semantically rich, domain-specific data into a neutral representation that can be accessed by other domain-specific filters. To validate the feasibility of the proposed model, we computationally implement the filter mechanism and apply it to a hypothetical test case. The result acknowledges that the filter mechanism can let the participants know ahead of time what will be the implications of their proposed actions, as seen from other participants' points of view.

An integrative structural health monitoring system for the local/global responses of a large-scale irregular building under construction.

In this study, a practical and integrative SHM system was developed and applied to a large-scale irregular building under construction, where many challenging issues exist. In the proposed sensor network, customized energy-efficient wireless sensing units (sensor nodes, repeater nodes, and master nodes) were employed and comprehensive communications from the sensor node to the remote monitoring server were conducted through wireless communications. The long-term (13-month) monitoring results recorded from a large number of sensors (75 vibrating wire strain gauges, 10 inclinometers, and three laser displacement sensors) indicated that the construction event exhibiting the largest influence on structural behavior was the removal of bents that were temporarily installed to support the free end of the cantilevered members during their construction. The safety of each member could be confirmed based on the quantitative evaluation of each response. Furthermore, it was also confirmed that the relation between these responses (i.e., deflection, strain, and inclination) can provide information about the global behavior of structures induced from specific events. Analysis of the measurement results demonstrates the proposed sensor network system is capable of automatic and real-time monitoring and can be applied and utilized for both the safety evaluation and precise implementation of buildings under construction.

Development of a low-cost airborne ultrasound sensor for the detection of brick joints behind a wall painting.

Non-destructive methods are of great interest for the analysis of cultural heritage. Among the different possible techniques, this paper presents a low cost prototype based on the emission and reception of airborne ultrasound without direct contact with the test specimen. We successfully performed a method test for the detection of brick joints under a XV th century Renaissance fresco of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the city of Valencia (Spain). Both laboratory and in situ results are in agreement. Using this prototype system, an early moisture detection system has been installed in the dome that supports the fresco. The result is encouraging and opens interesting prospects for future research.

Design and construction principles in nature and architecture.

This paper will focus on how the emerging scientific discipline of biomimetics can bring new insights into the field of architecture. An analysis of both architectural and biological methodologies will show important aspects connecting these two. The foundation of this paper is a case study of convertible structures based on elastic plant movements.

Biomimetic design processes in architecture: morphogenetic and evolutionary computational design.

Design computation has profound impact on architectural design methods. This paper explains how computational design enables the development of biomimetic design processes specific to architecture, and how they need to be significantly different from established biomimetic processes in engineering disciplines. The paper first explains the fundamental difference between computer-aided and computational design in architecture, as the understanding of this distinction is of critical importance for the research presented. Thereafter, the conceptual relation and possible transfer of principles from natural morphogenesis to design computation are introduced and the related developments of generative, feature-based, constraint-based, process-based and feedback-based computational design methods are presented. This morphogenetic design research is then related to exploratory evolutionary computation, followed by the presentation of two case studies focusing on the exemplary development of spatial envelope morphologies and urban block morphologies.

Map building and monte carlo localization using global appearance of omnidirectional images.

In this paper we deal with the problem of map building and localization of a mobile robot in an environment using the information provided by an omnidirectional vision sensor that is mounted on the robot. Our main objective consists of studying the feasibility of the techniques based in the global appearance of a set of omnidirectional images captured by this vision sensor to solve this problem. First, we study how to describe globally the visual information so that it represents correctly locations and the geometrical relationships between these locations. Then, we integrate this information using an approach based on a spring-mass-damper model, to create a topological map of the environment. Once the map is built, we propose the use of a Monte Carlo localization approach to estimate the most probable pose of the vision system and its trajectory within the map. We perform a comparison in terms of computational cost and error in localization. The experimental results we present have been obtained with real indoor omnidirectional images.

Reasons for applying innovations for scaffolding work.

In this paper reasons for applying and for not applying technical and organisational innovations in scaffolding work are studied. In a participatory ergonomic approach these innovations were developed to reduce problems concerning physical load of scaffolders. In this study reasons for the adoption of the innovations in the scaffolding sector are evaluated in 2 studies, in 48 companies. More than half of the scaffolding sector in the Netherlands adopted the innovations. Reasons for applying innovations concerned improvement of work and health and satisfaction with usage. The reason for not applying the innovations concerned specific situations, such as offshore work, in which innovations were not applicable.