Surveying for a Construction Robot —True Human-Machine Collaboration

作者:Richard Ostridge

每次我查看社交媒体提要时，我都会看到至少一篇有关人工智能或机器学习的文章。但是，我最近读到了一场同样有影响力的技术革命，这种革命在此类讨论中似乎不足 - 机器人建造者。

Previous technological advances already reduce the effort required to build – diggers, cement mixers, jackhammers, electric drills and screwdrivers, to mention just some equipment, that simplifies construction tasks. In the last few years, though, another significant advance has started to come into focus — automation.

Automated Synthesis

An article from the World Economic Forum titled “Built by Robots: This Swiss Company Could Change the Construction Industry Forever” made me think about how the fundamentals of building are rapidly changing. The article features a proof of concept three level ‘DFAB’ house in Switzerland, featuring 3D-printed ceilings, energy-efficient walls and timber beams assembled by robots on site. A researcher responsible for the project quoted in the article, Matthias Kohler, had a clear vision of how machines and humans would work together in the future. According to Kohler, robots should not be expected to synthesise human craftsmanship, but rather humans should reverse engineer the design to allow robots to build materials and structures that suit their strengths.

Off-site house construction is not new — in the last 20 years, brands like Huf Haus have refreshed the public's enthusiasm for prefabricated buildings. What’s different about the DFAB house is the scale use of 3D printing and basic robotic assembly, which omits an entire layer of human effort to create elements of the building. Of course, these elements still require human assembly, but if architects and builders fully take on Kohlers’ vision, the building design can be simplified so robots can also do some of this assembly.

自动组件

在未来20年内，自动化组装并不是期望发生的大规模发生的事情，但是越来越多的机器人案例进行了更多动力学劳动。例如，Construction Robotics的半自治泥工SAM100目前正在美国少数建筑工地上工作。在人类的梅森可以在八个小时内放置300-600砖的地方，SAM100可以铺设超过3,000。SAM100行动的视频在视频共享平台上获得了数百万次观看次数，这表明对此主题有兴趣和兴奋。

SAM100加入了来自澳大利亚快速机器人技术的Hadrian X，这两种印刷品都可以在短短两天内完成常规砌体房屋的上层建筑。高级施工机器人的另一个有趣的例子是丹麦公司Odico的机器人热线切割机器人，该机器人使用电加热的电线切开工业泡沫，通过给定的CAD模型复制几何形状。此外，来自法国效率的Effibot可以跟随携带工具和材料的工人。自然，任何行业都对机器人自动化更多的工作量有犹豫。尽管如此，尽管上面描述了令人惊奇的例子，但机器人数年来不会建造房屋。当然，可以轻松地确定许多积极因素，例如成本，时间和对环境的影响。但是，某些缺点也是如此，诸如劳动力部分的重新培训之类的问题确实需要被认为是长期接受和成功的关键。

As a surveyor reading about technology like this, I don’t immediately think about the impact on construction projects. Instead, I think what does this automation mean for the survey industry? The good news is that with rising expectations to design better and construct faster, I believe that there will likely be plenty of opportunities for surveying businesses providing services to building construction companies.

混合测量师

如果机器人要产生一个对象，则必须进行准确的尺寸信息。如果机器人要将某些东西放入现场的正确位置，则需要准确的位置信息。

Tolerances will be tight, accuracy and precision will be demanded, compromise won’t be an option — and that sounds like the calling card of a surveyor to me.

尽管建筑工地上的人可以看到很小的差异，并且本能地知道如何解决问题，但我不相信机器人能够自行解决这个问题。也许它将检测到问题，然后请求人类援助 - 降低效率增长，这是首先使用机器人的动机之一。不可否认，最大化机器人效率的最佳方法是为他们提供真正代表现实的质量信息。

那么，没有人会被捕获吗？好吧，在某些数据捕获方案中，可以说我们所扮演的角色已经略有变化，例如，从选择哪些确切的点转移到选择区域和密度以使仪器捕获的确切点。主要是，这要归功于技术的进步，接受和使用，例如Leica RTC360 3D激光扫描仪或移动技术，例如Leica BLK2GO，它随着操作员在网站上及其周围及其周围而自动捕获3D点云。

Data collection without a human, maybe - but a survey (including deliverables), no. Yet, we surveyors might have to adjust what it means to be a ‘surveyor’.

What’s Next for Surveyors?

For years surveyors have been valued on deciding where to set up, what control to use, and what checks to build in. More recently, additional emphasis has been put on deciding which technology to use, how to measure, and how to process the data.

For the next generation of surveyors, it seems likely that even more weight will be put on sifting through data, identifying quality, understanding what is relevant, and deciding how to present it.

也许这项工作将更多地强调确定要构建的检查或如何评估和处理数据。而且很可能会在确定哪些数据相关的数据以及如何以及何时出现时会增加重量。

I believe that now is the right time to be assessing our workflows, evaluating new methodologies, and embracing new technology. We can then establish ourselves as the service providers who produce the best data, the ones who can be trusted to assess and verify the quality of other data, as well as the ones who can extract meaningful results from it all.

If we do this right, we will be in the position to not only protect our own short-term employment future but also to ensure the future of the survey industry — even when we are surveying for construction robots to use our data.