Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BEEYONDERS (Breakthrough European tEchnologies Yielding cOnstruction sovereigNty, Diversity & Efficiency of ResourceS)
Reporting period: 2022-06-01 to 2023-11-30
Demographic trends in Europe are posing a challenge to the construction sector, which is facing labour shortage, and an aging existing workforce. This can be addressed through the integrated adoption of breakthrough technologies, e.g. autonomous vehicles, collaborative robotics, additive manufacturing, smart wearables, digital twin, and artificial intelligence, which can help to get construction tasks done with more efficacy, while at the same time making the sector more attractive to young people, and improving the safety, productivity, quality and environmental impact of construction projects. BEEYONDERS will take a leap forward in the design, development, and integration of these breakthrough technologies in real construction scenarios, bringing together the capabilities of European stakeholders, thus also demonstrating how the dependency on technology import from outside Europe can be reduced. Solutions will be developed for supporting the integration of autonomous and tele-operated, ground and aerial robotic platforms and heavy equipment in harsh environments. Innovative additive manufacturing solutions will be developed for resource optimization and for protection of biodiversity in maritime works. Safety, wellbeing, and training of workers will be improved through the development of exoskeletons, advanced wearables, and learning resources supported by XR technologies. A Digital Twin enriched with AI-based layers for decision-making will support seamless integration and management of all Project technologies. These will be tested and validated in 6 demonstration case studies covering different project typologies: tunnels, earthworks for road construction, buildings, maritime infrastructures, and road maintenance. BEEYONDERS impact will be evaluated both from the point of view of users? acceptance (e.g. benefits for aging workforce, attraction of young workers, contribution to gender balance in construction) and environment(e.g.LCA&LCC applied to all project).
WP1
The Project Management Plan (PMP), the ICT tools for the project, the rules for generating documentation, organization of meetings, as well as the coordination of participation in ERF2023 congress, and Quality Assurance tools have been defined. In terms of administrative activities, a continuous monitoring of personnel efforts and expenses per partner, contractual and legal advice to partners, an amendment, and a first technical/financial interim report on M9 have been done. Finally, previous contacts with EU-JP Centre for Industrial collaboration for carrying out a technological mission to Japan to start working with GIKEN company, to attend to Robodex and Factory Innovation Week fairs, and to have interviews with three local companies have been done.
WP2
General requirements, outcomes, impacts expected and technical requirements have been defined. Besides, Life Cycle Cost (LCC), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Social Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been defined, which will be used for circularity assessment and social impact of the implementation of new Breakthrough Technologies (BT). A testing plan template has been proposed to serve as guideline to be completed prior the deployment of each technology in the use cases of the project, together with the definition of the testing methods and protocols to be executed and measured for each technology.
WP3
The conceptual design of the Digital Twin (DT), detailing the different layers of the structure as well as the communication between them, as well as the software platform environment technologies were selected, justifying the different options and the steps to be followed for their implementation. Finally, the visualisation interfaces to be used in the project were defined. Apart from this, the definition of the basic architecture for the integration of the Data Sources in the DT as well as the definition of the data model and the services for IoT data acquisition, semantic data acquisition, provision of data to the DT and data cleaning are also being developed.
WP4
The main bases for the development of the muti-agent shared situational awareness system for harsh environments are ready and the algorithms needed are in progress. The main bases for the development of the semantic SLAM based on radar are ready and the algorithms needed are in progress. First sensor selection approach and simulators have been deployed and tested in different scenarios. Aditionally, all the requirements and architecture of the Wheel Loader to become autonomous in terms of actuators and sensors have been defined, and significant improvements in the communications for remote operation have been implemented and tested. Besides, a first version of the virtual environment is ready in Algoryx, with the corresponding simulation model of the Wheel Loader (including the perception sensors), and the A* algorithm has been selected to generate the optimal trajectory for the wheel loader.
WP5
The Intelligence and Actuation modules designed and developed for full integration into the exoskeleton, providing combined support to the back and shoulders. Development of three wearable systems: 1)Localization, noise sensor, an accelerometer, used to detect possible man-down situations, an others; 2) Wearable prototype to detect fatigue in workers. Preliminary tests conducted using sEMG, heart rate (HR), heart rate interval (HRV) and Movesense inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors; and 3) Cutting-edge wearable system, "Smart Suit" with a set of IMUs sensors, with an objective of evaluating the ergonomics of the worker.
WP6
Development of an optimized 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) marine caisson, integrating advanced ecological features to promote marine biodiversity. The design process entailed comprehensive geometry optimization, structural analysis using Finite Element Method (FEM) models. Structural calculations ensured the caisson's safety and stability. Preliminary manufacturing process estimations were conducted considering the use of a BOD XL printer for large-scale manufacturing and BOD 2 or BOD 3 printers for scaled-down prototypes. Significant strides in sensor development, focused on integrating key measurements into the 3D printing process. Progress in material development optimizing a fiber-reinforced 3D printable concrete and developing a lab method to assess the bio-receptivity of materials. The effect of fiber on printability was checked through printing trials.
The Project Management Plan (PMP), the ICT tools for the project, the rules for generating documentation, organization of meetings, as well as the coordination of participation in ERF2023 congress, and Quality Assurance tools have been defined. In terms of administrative activities, a continuous monitoring of personnel efforts and expenses per partner, contractual and legal advice to partners, an amendment, and a first technical/financial interim report on M9 have been done. Finally, previous contacts with EU-JP Centre for Industrial collaboration for carrying out a technological mission to Japan to start working with GIKEN company, to attend to Robodex and Factory Innovation Week fairs, and to have interviews with three local companies have been done.
WP2
General requirements, outcomes, impacts expected and technical requirements have been defined. Besides, Life Cycle Cost (LCC), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Social Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been defined, which will be used for circularity assessment and social impact of the implementation of new Breakthrough Technologies (BT). A testing plan template has been proposed to serve as guideline to be completed prior the deployment of each technology in the use cases of the project, together with the definition of the testing methods and protocols to be executed and measured for each technology.
WP3
The conceptual design of the Digital Twin (DT), detailing the different layers of the structure as well as the communication between them, as well as the software platform environment technologies were selected, justifying the different options and the steps to be followed for their implementation. Finally, the visualisation interfaces to be used in the project were defined. Apart from this, the definition of the basic architecture for the integration of the Data Sources in the DT as well as the definition of the data model and the services for IoT data acquisition, semantic data acquisition, provision of data to the DT and data cleaning are also being developed.
WP4
The main bases for the development of the muti-agent shared situational awareness system for harsh environments are ready and the algorithms needed are in progress. The main bases for the development of the semantic SLAM based on radar are ready and the algorithms needed are in progress. First sensor selection approach and simulators have been deployed and tested in different scenarios. Aditionally, all the requirements and architecture of the Wheel Loader to become autonomous in terms of actuators and sensors have been defined, and significant improvements in the communications for remote operation have been implemented and tested. Besides, a first version of the virtual environment is ready in Algoryx, with the corresponding simulation model of the Wheel Loader (including the perception sensors), and the A* algorithm has been selected to generate the optimal trajectory for the wheel loader.
WP5
The Intelligence and Actuation modules designed and developed for full integration into the exoskeleton, providing combined support to the back and shoulders. Development of three wearable systems: 1)Localization, noise sensor, an accelerometer, used to detect possible man-down situations, an others; 2) Wearable prototype to detect fatigue in workers. Preliminary tests conducted using sEMG, heart rate (HR), heart rate interval (HRV) and Movesense inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors; and 3) Cutting-edge wearable system, "Smart Suit" with a set of IMUs sensors, with an objective of evaluating the ergonomics of the worker.
WP6
Development of an optimized 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) marine caisson, integrating advanced ecological features to promote marine biodiversity. The design process entailed comprehensive geometry optimization, structural analysis using Finite Element Method (FEM) models. Structural calculations ensured the caisson's safety and stability. Preliminary manufacturing process estimations were conducted considering the use of a BOD XL printer for large-scale manufacturing and BOD 2 or BOD 3 printers for scaled-down prototypes. Significant strides in sensor development, focused on integrating key measurements into the 3D printing process. Progress in material development optimizing a fiber-reinforced 3D printable concrete and developing a lab method to assess the bio-receptivity of materials. The effect of fiber on printability was checked through printing trials.
Result 1 (R1): First steps of a new Digital Twin platform to manage and supevise the BT deployed in the use cases.
Result 2 (R2): New types of cutting-edge radar sensors to be implemented in a wheel loader to navigate in very harhs (dusty, narrow, and dirty) environmets in autonomous way thanks to the implementation of SLAM algorithms. Wheel loader actuators and sensors defined and preliminary simultaions in Algoryx environment.
Result 3 (R3): A new type of exoskeleton to provide combined support to the back and shoulders.
Result 4 (R4): Three types of wearable systems with different focus for workers.
Result 5 (R5): New type of maritime caisson 3D printed with concrete additive manufacturing and biodiversity criteria for the design of geometry and manufacturing of monitored concrete.
Result 2 (R2): New types of cutting-edge radar sensors to be implemented in a wheel loader to navigate in very harhs (dusty, narrow, and dirty) environmets in autonomous way thanks to the implementation of SLAM algorithms. Wheel loader actuators and sensors defined and preliminary simultaions in Algoryx environment.
Result 3 (R3): A new type of exoskeleton to provide combined support to the back and shoulders.
Result 4 (R4): Three types of wearable systems with different focus for workers.
Result 5 (R5): New type of maritime caisson 3D printed with concrete additive manufacturing and biodiversity criteria for the design of geometry and manufacturing of monitored concrete.