Smart construction: what, why, what to do, how to do it_Industry News

Time: May 24, 2023 Source: Construction Enterprise Management

Intelligent construction has become an inevitable trend in the development of the construction industry and an important starting point for transformation and upgrading. However, there are still situations that are not practical and unrealistic in the process of promoting intelligent construction.

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What is smart construction

Construction is the entire "manufacturing" process of a construction project, and is a general term for project planning, design and construction based on the consideration of the entire life cycle. Engineering construction, like other industrial product manufacturing, must be based on maximizing the economic and technical performance and benefits of the product throughout its life cycle.

Intelligent construction is an advanced stage for the entire life cycle of engineering products, realizing the improvement of construction production levels and on-site operation empowerment under ubiquitous sensing conditions; it is the perception, transmission, accumulation and systematization of information in project planning, design and construction technology and management The process is a construction method that builds an Internet-based engineering project information management and control platform, completes various process operations through robots with complementary functions within a given time and space, and realizes the deep integration of artificial intelligence and construction requirements.

Promoting smart construction should focus on three key contents: First, build an engineering construction information model (EIM) management and control platform. The EIM management and control platform is developed for the systematic management and control of the entire process, all participants, and all elements of engineering project construction. The multi-source information automation management and control system of the construction process; the second is digital collaborative design, using modern information technology to carry out full-professional, full-process, and full-system collaborative planning during the project approval, design and construction planning stages of the project; the third is robotic construction , driven by the EIM management and control platform and building information model technology, robots can replace humans to complete construction operations in situations such as large quantities of work, repeated tasks, dangerous environments, heavy physical exertion, etc.

The basic work supporting intelligent construction is the development of three-dimensional graphics description, graphics engine and platform, and the development of a series of software for the three-dimensional space description and realistic expression of buildings.

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Why smart construction

Since the reform and opening up, my country's construction industry has developed rapidly and achieved great results. However, as my country's economy shifts from high-speed growth to high-quality development, the construction industry gradually enters the stock era, and development faces the following challenges: First, the traditional management system and construction model are relatively backward and inefficient. Second, the situation of intensive labor, poor on-site operating environment, and high labor intensity has not fundamentally changed. Industrial labor costs are high, employment attractiveness is weak, and workers are aging seriously. Third, the informatization level of the industry is not high, and the overall advancement of smart construction lags behind. The main manifestations are that foreign technology is simply copied, there is not much original technology, and there are few basic software systems for text and graphics processing with independent intellectual property rights; there are few efficient and practical artificial intelligence tools and construction site operation robots; there is a lack of practical promotion of engineering project intelligence. The effect of building an effectively implemented digital management and control platform to promote industry transformation and upgrading is not obvious.

To sum up, in terms of promoting intelligent construction, in addition to the great improvement in the informatization level of the construction industry, my country already has the world's largest volume of building information modeling (BIM) technology applications and has also started to develop robots. , but we do not have independent intellectual property rights for the BIM basic platform, 3D graphics system and its engine.

The huge investment in construction information technology has been fragmented, and there are few obvious breakthroughs in solving the "stuck neck" technology of intelligent construction. The challenges faced by the advancement of intelligent construction are very severe and should attract great attention from the industry. Our country has always attached great importance to the integration of information technology and industrial development. The world is entering a period of economic development led by the information industry. We must seize the opportunity of the integrated development of digitalization, networking, and intelligence, use informatization and intelligence as levers to cultivate new momentum, and drive the transformation and upgrading of the construction industry.

In 2011, 2015, and 2016, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development successively issued the "2011-2015 Construction Industry Informatization Development Outline", "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Application of Building Information Models" and "2016-2020 Construction Industry Informatization Development Outline" and other documents require construction industry companies to apply technologies such as big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, 3D printing and intelligence. In July 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other departments issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Coordinated Development of Intelligent Construction and Construction Industrialization", further clearly proposing an intelligent construction industry system for the coordinated development of intelligent construction and construction industrialization. Promoting intelligent construction has become a key measure for the country to promote high-quality development of the construction industry.

Based on the current status analysis and policy guidance of my country's construction industry, it is a general trend for the construction industry to promote intelligent construction, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects.

First, it is driven by the high-quality development requirements of the construction industry. If the construction industry wants to follow the road of high-quality development, it must achieve "four transformations": from "quantity wins" to "quality wins"; from "extensive management" to "refined management"; from "economic benefits first" to " "Green development first"; shifting from "factor-driven" to "innovation-driven". To achieve these changes, intelligent construction is an important means. The second is the need to improve project quality. Entering the new era, the foothold and goal of economic development is to meet the people's growing needs for a better life to the greatest extent, among which the improvement of project quality is an important public demand. The "quality" of engineering quality is people's aesthetic needs; "quality" is the quality requirement of craftsmanship, functionality and environment. Promoting intelligent construction is an important method to accelerate the improvement of project quality.

The third is a powerful starting point to change the working form of the construction industry. The construction industry is a labor-intensive industry and requires a lot of labor on site. How to adhere to the "people-oriented" development concept, improve working conditions, reduce labor intensity, and use construction robots to replace manual work as much as possible has become a consensus in the construction industry's pursuit of development.

Fourth, it is inevitable to improve work efficiency and promote industry transformation and upgrading. At present, the labor productivity of the construction industry is not high. The main reason is the lack of efficient management and control of intelligent construction platforms that can coordinate and control the entire construction process, all professions, all participants and all factors in real time. The main reason is the lack of convenient, practical and efficient robot construction.

The fifth is a powerful tool to achieve "zero distance" management and control of engineering projects. Promote intelligent construction and give full play to the advantages of information sharing. With the help of informatization methods such as the Internet and the Internet of Things, build a project construction management and control platform that can be easily used by relevant parties to achieve zero-distance, full-process, and real-time management and control of engineering projects.

The proposal of “new infrastructure” provides a rare opportunity to accelerate smart construction. "New infrastructure" mainly includes fifth-generation mobile communication technology base stations, intercity high-speed railways and urban rail transit, new energy vehicle charging piles, big data centers, industrial Internet and other fields. "New infrastructure" promotes the construction of three types of infrastructure: information infrastructure for emerging technologies, infrastructure integrating emerging technologies with "old infrastructure", and innovative infrastructure that supports scientific research, technology development, and product development. The new infrastructure provides more complete infrastructure conditions for accelerating smart construction. We must seize the opportunity, work hard and accelerate smart construction.

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What does smart construction do?

Through the promotion of intelligent construction, to effectively realize the transformation and upgrading of the construction industry and improve quality and efficiency, we should focus on the following aspects of work.

The first is to create an institutional mechanism that is conducive to promoting intelligent construction of engineering projects. Further clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the government, industry, and enterprises in promoting intelligent construction and quickly forming a general trend of coordinated advancement are crucial to promoting intelligent construction.

The second is to promote intelligent construction, and scientific and technological research and development must take precedence. Intelligent construction is a construction method that highly integrates traditional construction technology and modern technology. It is extremely comprehensive and innovative and cannot be achieved overnight. It must take scientific research first, continue to increase investment in scientific research, and continue to carry out scientific and technological research to achieve substantial results.

The third is to accelerate the creation of an EIM management and control platform. Systematic management and control of engineering projects is a basic requirement to achieve high-quality development of the construction industry. Creating an EIM management and control platform to achieve systematic management and control of engineering projects plays a decisive role in improving the management level of the construction industry and should be included in the priority of promoting smart construction. options.

The fourth is to accelerate the development of construction robots. Establish a scientific and technological research system led by general engineering contracting enterprises and involving multiple disciplines such as electronics, machinery, information and control, organize multi-disciplinary joint research on the development of construction robots, and accelerate the promotion and use of construction robots.

The fifth is to build a PRP-ERP-GRP management system for the project level, enterprise level, and group level. Intelligent construction should focus on the different roles of engineering project construction, and build a management and control platform for the intelligent construction of engineering projects shared by relevant parties such as the government, owners, designers, general contractors, and professional subcontractors; embodying rights and responsibilities at the three levels of the group, enterprise, and project Division of labor, focusing on improving project planning capabilities, resource integration capabilities and process control capabilities, optimizing and solidifying processes, and forming a PRP[1] ERP-GRP system around different management and control entities of engineering projects to empower quality and efficiency improvements.

Sixth, accelerate the construction of a professional collaborative design platform. Build a digital 2022.12 Construction Enterprise Management 31 digital platform for multi-disciplinary collaborative design of architecture, structure, water, heating, mechanical and electrical, decoration, etc., break the status quo of separation of professional design, design engineering products from an overall level, and achieve optimal overall project quality .

The seventh is to develop “engineering construction +” and integrate new technologies into traditional construction technologies. The promotion of smart construction should pay more attention to the technology and process characteristics of the construction process, and environmental perception requirements, integrating modern information technologies such as "Dazhi Cloud Object Movement", and forming integrated technologies such as "Quality and Safety +", "Curtain Wall Engineering +" and "Rebar Engineering +" , in order to achieve high efficiency of construction, refinement of technology and quality of project.

Eighth, we attach great importance to the development of computer underlying support systems, operating systems and office systems with independent intellectual property rights. Most of the commonly used computer three-dimensional graphics and BIM systems, the underlying operating system windows and office systems originate from overseas. The development of independent and controllable computer software systems that support intelligent construction is crucial to improving core technical capabilities.

To sum up, smart construction is a complex system project that should aim at improving quality and efficiency. Only by not showing off or being impetuous can we achieve practical results through comprehensive deployment and solid advancement.

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Pragmatically promote smart construction

Intelligent construction started late in my country, but it now has a good foundation. We should take advantage of my country's large market to stop showing off, make solid progress, strive for practical results, and change the current fragmented development status of intelligent construction technology and management.

The first is to accelerate the reform of the engineering project management system and mechanism and accelerate the advancement of the general contracting model of engineering projects. Promoting smart construction requires the coordination of the entire construction process of project planning, design, and construction, calling for the acceleration of the engineering project management system and mechanism of "general contracting + full-process engineering design consulting services".

The general engineering contracting enterprise should assume the responsibility of "the general engineering contracting has overall responsibility", and the management tentacles extend forward and backward; the engineering design consultation led by registered architects should be responsible for the operation quality, environmental suitability and functionality of the building throughout its life cycle. Corresponding responsibilities. Digital collaborative design is the foundation of smart construction and must be promoted with all our strength. Establishing the concept of "grand design" is a sufficient and necessary condition for the promotion of intelligent construction, and efforts are made to promote the design of construction drawings and special construction drawings of civil engineering and electromechanical equipment and their in-depth design, engineering organization design, engineering construction organization design, and engineering construction plan design. Four simultaneous designs of engineering projects”.

Second, smart construction should carry out top-level design. To promote smart construction, top-level design, overall planning, and step-by-step implementation should be carried out. The first is to develop a three-dimensional graphics system with independent intellectual property rights; the second is to develop BIM; the third is to build an EIM management and control platform based on BIM; the fourth is to develop artificial intelligence facilities, such as intelligent monitoring facilities and robot facilities with different functions.

The urban construction information management and control platform (CIM) should be based on urban planning and integrate the EIM management and control platform information of various projects such as construction, municipal administration, railways, highways, bridges, and water conservancy projects in the region. It is formed through the synthesis, accumulation and filtering of information on the EIM management and control platform. That is to say, intelligent construction is a complex system project. It should be oriented towards "improving quality and efficiency" in the industry, with overall planning and step-by-step implementation. Adhering to the continuous improvement idea of "not seeking excellence at one time, but seeking practical results", we must strive to effectively improve the industry. Contribute to the quality of development.

Third, based on the complexity of engineering construction, several subsystems should be developed in conjunction with software developers to "break the whole into parts" based on engineering construction services, management, scene and process reengineering, innovation and solidification research. On the basis of promotion and application, we will continue to improve, and then combine the corresponding subsystems according to different needs to realize the integration of several subsystems and gradually form a systematic management and control platform suitable for multi-party collaboration of engineering projects to realize the control of engineering projects. The entire implementation process, all elements and all participants are managed and controlled, and finally a systematic working platform - EIM management and control platform for real-time control and operation of information flow, material flow and capital flow in the construction of engineering projects with original pedigree in my country was created.

The fourth is to innovate development ideas and create a graphics system with independent intellectual property rights in my country. The current parametric design method for BIM three-dimensional graphics input is not consistent with the input method familiar to Chinese technicians, and has poor popularity. We should gather advantageous resources, innovate development ideas, develop the system's built-in conversion software based on the graphic design methods familiar to our country's technicians, automatically generate three-dimensional space graphics, perform realistic representations, and overcome the "stuck" three-dimensional graphics system. Due to technical difficulties, my country has developed a 3D graphics engine and platform with independent intellectual property rights and a BIM system that meets China's construction needs.

The fifth is to accelerate the development and promotion of artificial intelligence facilities, such as intelligent monitoring facilities, robot facilities with different functions, etc., especially the construction of processes that have many points, a wide range of areas, large quantities, high labor intensity, and poor operating conditions. The EIM control platform and process technology are linked and controlled in the robot operating environment to conduct robot development.

Intelligent construction is an engineering construction method that promotes digital design, robot-led or assisted construction in the construction and construction process through the cross-integration of computer technology, network technology, mechanical and electronic technology, construction technology and management science. It is an engineering construction method that accelerates the transformation and upgrading of the construction industry and realizes The leading approach to modernization of the construction industry. Intelligent construction aims to maximize the comprehensive benefits throughout the life cycle of the project, focusing on management process reengineering, emphasizing the quality and safety assurance of the construction process, resource system management and control, digital design and collaborative construction methods for robot operations. Let us go hand in hand, adhering to the methods of original innovation, integrated innovation, introduction, digestion, absorption and re-innovation, focusing on practical results, unremitting exploration, hard work, and solid advancement of intelligent construction.